The use of a combination of Ki-67, Galectin-3, and PTTG can distinguish the benign and malignant thyroid tumor.
BACKGROUND
Thyroid tumor is the most common malignant cancer of endocrinology, with an increasing incidence in the world. In the absence of specific markers of malignancy, it is a real challenge to distinguish benign and malignant thyroid tumors under the microscope.


METHODS
The present study aimed to investigate the expression of Ki-67, Galectin-3, and pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) in thyroid tumors, and to assess their diagnostic value as markers in the differential diagnoses of thyroid tumors. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embeded tissue of 10 cases of normal thyroid tissue as negative control, 13 cases of follicular adenomas (FA), 14 cases of follicular carcinomas (FC), and 40 cases of papillary carcinomas (PC).


RESULTS
Statistically, it was clearly found that all three markers should be used in a panel, not only distinguishing malignant and benign thyroid tumors but also differentiating follicular carcinoma from papillary carcinoma. It also confirmed previous observations that Galectin-3 alone is highly sensitive for papillary carcinoma but not adequately sensitive for follicular carcinoma.


CONCLUSIONS
PTTG alone is not adequately sensitive for the evaluation of any thyroid lesion. The combination of Galectin-3 and PTTG is complementary as a diagnostic biomarker for patients with papillary carcinoma.
The Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830054, PR China.
Wenli
W
Cui
Xiaomei
X
Lu
Shutao
S
Zheng
Yuqing
Y
Ma
Xia
X
Liu
Wei
W
Zhang
D018263:Adenocarcinoma, Follicular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D000231:Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D064249:Securin; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037502:Galectin 3; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D064249:Securin; C578002:pituitary tumor-transforming protein 1, human