Galectin-3 immunodetection may improve cytological diagnosis of occult papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Galectin-3 has been found recently to be neo-expressed in thyroid cancers compared to benign lesions and it could therefore be considered a marker of malignancy. We report the case of a 36-year-old woman with a history of occasional dysphagia and dysphonia first observed in November 2000. Thyroid ultrasound scan revealed two subcentimetric nodules in the right lobe. The larger one underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Due to the nature of the lesion, only a few cells could be collected. Their morphological aspect was suspicious but not conclusive for malignancy, therefore we marked the cells using a monoclonal antibody anti-galectin-3. The cytological suspicions were supported by galectin-3-expressing cells, so the patient was referred to surgery. The final histological diagnosis was conclusive for multifocal occult thyroid papillary carcinomas. We conclude that the galectin-3 immunocytochemical assay should be part of the diagnostic protocol supporting conventional cytology to characterize scanty and/or suspicious cellular smears.
Pisani
T
T
Cytopathology Laboratory, II Faculty of Medicine, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
Vecchione
A
A
Giovagnolii
M R
MR
D000328:Adult; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D037502:Galectin 3