Tae Sik Jung, Keun Sook Kim, Young Lyun Oh, Jung Hwa Jung, Eun Young Lee, Hye Seung Jung, Yong Ki Min, Myung Shik Lee, Moon Kyu Lee, Kwang Won Kim, Jae Hoon Chung
J Korean Endocr Soc. 2007;22(2):98-104. Published online April 1, 2007
BACKGROUND There have been some investigations concerning the role of p53, p21 and bcl-2 protein expressions for the tumorigenesis of thyroid cancer. It had been debated that these protein expressions were associated with aggressive features of papillary thyroid carcinoma. We studied to evaluate the prevalence of these protein expressions and their clinical significances in papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: We selected 49 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who had been operated on at Samsung Medical Center during the last 10 years. Immunohistochemical staining for p53, p21 and bcl-2 was done by the use of paraffin embedded tissues. We analyzed the results of immunohistochemical staining for p53, p21 and bcl-2 and the correlation with the patients' age, gender, tumor size, multifocality, tumor invasion to both lobes, extrathyroidal invasion, cervical lymph node invasion, distant metastasis and the clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical staining for p53 was positive in 10 patients (20%), p21 was positive in 36 patients (73%) and bcl-2 was positive in 18 patients (37%). The p53 and bcl-2 expressions were not associated with the clinical parameters. Tumor multifocality and extrathyroidal invasion were significantly higher in the p21 positive group (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed that the p21 protein expression was associated with tumor multifocality and extrathyroidal invasion in the patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Immunohistochemical stains for p21 may be used as a parameter for tumor aggressiveness in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
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Clinicopathologic and Diagnostic Significance of p53 Protein Expression in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Mi Kyung Shin, Jeong Won Kim Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention.2014; 15(5): 2341. CrossRef
BACKGROUND Proteins of the Bcl-2 family are intracellular membrane-associated proteins that regulate programmed cell death either positively or negatively by as yet unknown mechanism. Bcl-2 family proteins have an antiapoptotic function, such as the Bcl-2, the long form of Bcl-x and Mcl-l, or a proapoptotic function, like the short form of Bcl-x and Bax. To investigate the potential role of Bcl-2 family proteins in thyroid tumorigenesis, the authors examined the pattern of expression of the Bel-2 family proteins in various thyroid neoplasms. METHODS: Bcl-2 family proteins, including Bcl-2, Bcl-x, Mcl-1 and Bax proteins were immunohistochemically stained in 57 cases of various thyroid neoplasms using formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded tissues; 18 cases of papillary carcinoma, 6 cases of medullary carcinoma, 4 cases of anaplastic carcinoma, 10 cases of follicular adenoma, 9 cases of adenomatous goiter, and 10 autopsy cases of fetal thyroid galnd. The intensity and frequency of the immunostaining were evaluated with the program of Image-Pro Plus Version 3.0 for image analysis. RESULT: Consistent expression of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and Bax proteins were present in the surrounding normal thyroid tissue, however the expression of Bcl-x protein was not observed. Compare to the expression patterns of adenomatous goiter, and fetal and surrounding normal thyroid tissues, papillary and anaplastic carcinomas showed the decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bcl-x protein expressions(p (0.05). Medullary carcinoma revealed the increased Bcl-x protein expression only(p 0.05). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that combined patterns of decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bcl-x protein expressions may eontribute to the carcinogenesis of thyroid cancers originated from thyroid follicular cells, and an increased expression of Bcl-x protein may be related to the pathogenesis of medullary carcinoma from parafollicular C cells.