• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1514-1521
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• 2009

To evaluate the feasibility of cathepsin-B levels in preoperatively screening patients with thyroid cancer, we assigned these patients to either the thyroid cancer group (n=32) or the nodular hyperplasia group (n=7). Five healthy volunteers served as controls (n=5). We quantified cathepsin-B expressions in cancerous lesions with follicular carcinoma and hyperplastic lesions with nodular hyperplasia, and compared the degrees to those of normal thyroid tissue, which was obtained from matched contralateral lobe. The activity of serum cathepsin B was significantly higher in patients with thyroid carcinoma ($284.87{\pm}79.32$, ${\times}10^{-2}\;mU$) and those with nodular hyperplasia ($255.45{\pm}95.68$, ${\times}10^{-2}\;mU$) than compared to normal control ($168.94{\pm}15.10$, ${\times}10^{-2}\;mU$) (p<0.05). Based on the results of immunoassay, the concentrations of cathepsin B in the thyroid cancer group ($15.50{\pm}7.86\;ng/ml$) and the nodular hyperplasia group ($17.64{\pm}7.49\;ng/ml$) were higher than those of the control group ($4.85{\pm}0.61\;ng/ml$). The degree of cathepsin-B mRNA expression was significantly higher in cancerous or hyperplastic lesions than normal thyroid tissues from matched contralateral lobe with follicular carcinoma or non-neoplastic thyroid disease. Our results indicate that the activity of serum cathepsin B is a useful indicator in screening patients with nodular hyperplasia or neoplastic thyroid disease and it may be involved in the abnormal proliferation of cells.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 1993

The nodular hyperplasia of the thyroid is a common thyriod disease. Nodular hyperplasia does rarely progress to thyroid cancer. The differentiation of a nodular hyperplasia from a neoplasm may be simple or difficult, both clinically and anatomically. The papillary carcinoma of the thyroid is the most common type of thyroid malignancies. There were few studies about cytogenetic observation in thyroid cancer. But only one case of banding observation in nodular hyperplasia have been reported. In order to compare the chromosomal changes in the thyroid cancer and the noncancerous thyroid disease, we performed cytogenetic analysis in two papillary carcinoma and two nodular hyperplasia after cell culture. The chromosomal pattern of the nodular hyperplasia found was very heterogenous but no clonal abnormaly in both cases was observed. Case I : A modal chromosomal number was in 42-46 range. Chromosome 8, 19, 21. 22 were commonly lost. 9 structural anomalities among 51 analysed cells were observed but they were not clonal. Case II: A modal chromosomal number was 43. Chromosome 17 and 19 were commonly lossed. Common cytogenetic characters of this two nodular hyperplasia are hypodiploidity and very heterogenous chromosomal pattern. The result about the papillary carcinoma are as follow. In one case some numerical and structural chromosomal changes were observed. But they were not clonal abnormality. In another case the chromosomal pattern found was very heterogenous with a clonal abnormality of del(11)(q23). The modal number was 46. The del(11)(q23) a chromosomal change in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid have previously been reported(Eva Olah et al. 1989). We suggest that 11q deletion may be important role to pathogenesis of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. According to this results, we could not find out specific differences about chromosomal changes and any relationship between the papillary carcinoma and the nodular hyperplasia.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2001

Background and Objectives: Nitric oxide (NO) is generated in mammalian tissue by the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline. This reaction is catalyzed by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). NO is an important bioactive agent and a signalling molecule that mediates a variety of biologic actions such as vasodilation, neurotransmission, host defense, and iron metabolism but increased NO production may also contribute to the pathogenesis of a various of disorders, including cancer. Before now, the role of NO in thyroid gland is still investigated and it was supposed that NO mediate the angiogenesis in tumor growth. Others journal and works identified the expression of iNOS that involve by neutrophil and eNOS that involve in part in the vascular remodeling and to understand the role of NO in human thyroid gland. But authors revealed only eNOS in thyroid neoplasm. iNOS was identifed by inflammation in fault. Materials and Methods: Western blot analysis was performed, using a polyclonal antibody against eNOS (Rabbit polyclonal IgG). Using the same antibody, the distribution of eNOS was examined in 15 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded samples by immunohistochemistry. By NADPH consumption rate, NOS activity was estimated at nodular hyperplasia. Results: Western blot analysis exhibited that eNOS was significantly elevated in thyroid papillary carcinoma, compared to that in nodular hyperplasia and normal tissue. Immunohistochemistry showed that the immunoreacitivity was present more significantly in thyroid follicular epithelial cell layer than vascular endothelial cell. NOS activity increased in nodular hyperplasia. Conclusions: Thyroid papillary cancer without neutrophil invasion expressed only eNOS. The endothelial localization of eNOS may play an important role in pathogenensis of human thyroid nodular hyperplasia and the follicular localization of thyroid papillary carcinomas.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 1998

Fine needle aspiration cytology of "cold" nodules of the thyroid has proved to be of great value in their preoperative diagnosis. Most types of thyroid tumors are readily recognizable from characteristic cellular patterns in the smears of needle aspirates. But follicular neoplasms present some problems because the cytomorphology of the adenomas frequently is same as in carcinoma. For differentiation of benign from malignant follicular neoplasms of the thyroid we tested the usefulness of two objective parameters - nuclear area and perimeter - by morphometry. This study was made on fine needle aspirates from 30 cases with cytologic diagnosis of follicular neoplasm of thyroid. The histologic classification was follicular adenoma in 22 cases and follicular carcinoma in 8 cases. As a reference group we used seven caes with nodular hyperplasia. The smears of aspirates were stained by Papanicolaou method. On each slide 200 randomly selected cells with intact nuclei were measured. The mean value of nuclear area are $25.32{\pm}5.50{\mu}m^2,\;34.08{\pm}7.50{\mu}m^2\;and\;39.97{\pm}6.63{\mu}m^2$ in nodular hyperplasia, follicular adenoma, and follicular carcinoma, respectively. The mean value of perimeter are $19.48{\pm}2.26{\mu}m,\;22.95{\pm}2.65{\mu}m\;and\;24.78{\pm}2.23{\mu}m$ in nodular hyperplasia, follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma, respectively. The mean nuclear areas and perimeters of cells from follicular adenoma were significantly larger than those from nodular hyperplasia (p<0.05). The mean nuclear areas and perimeters of cells from follicular carcinoma were larger than those from follicular adenoma but the differences are not significant statistically(p>0.05). Therefore, morphometric assessment alone is inadequate to predict malignancy in thyroid aspirates.

• International journal of thyroidology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2018

Background and Objectives: Hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor gene RASSF1A and activating mutation of BRAF gene have been recently reported in thyroid cancers. To investigate the role of these two epigenetic and genetic alterations in thyroid tumor progression, methylation of RASSF1A and BRAF mutation were examined in thyroid tumors. Materials and Methods: During 2007 to 2017, 69 papillary carcinomas, 18 nodular hyperplasia, 3 follicular carcinomas, and 13 follicular adenomas were selected. The methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) technique was used in detecting RASSF1A methylation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-stranded conformation polymorphism and sequencing were used for BRAF gene mutation study. Results: The hypermethylation of the RASSF1A gene was found in 84.6%, 100% and 57.9% of follicular adenomas, follicular carcinomas, and papillary carcinomas, respectively. Nodular hyperplasia showed a hypermethylation in 33.3%. The BRAF mutation at V600E was found in 60.7% of papillary carcinoma and 27.0% of nodular hyperplasia, but none of follicular neoplasms. The BRAF mutation was correlated with the lymph node metastasis and MACIS clinical stage. There is an inverse correlation between RASSF1A methylation and BRAF mutation in thyroid lesions. Conclusion: Epigenetic inactivation of RASSF1A through aberrant methylation is considered to be an early step in thyroid tumorigenesis, and the BRAF mutation plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of papillary carcinoma, providing a genetic marker.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.537-539
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• 2009

A 47-year old woman was admitted to our hospital for removal of a known mass that was located on the suprasternal notch; specifically, the mass was located on the supero-anterior mediastinuum. The mass was removed by a cervical incision and the histopathologic diagnosis of the resected specimen was hererotopic thyroid tissue with nodular hyperplasia. Mediastinal hererotopic thyroid tissue is a rare malady, so we report here diastinal hererotopic thyroid tissue and we review the relevant medical literature.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2005

Objectives: The hepatocyte growth factor(HGF)/c-Met pathway may play various roles in the carcinogenesis of various organs. Although HGF/c-Met signalling pathway has been shown to demonstrate various cellular responses including mitogenic, proliferative, morphogenic and angiogenic activities, the study on their expression related to clinicopathological parameters in thyroid tumor is relatively rare. So we want to find out the clinical significance of the c-Met in thyroid tumor. Materials and Methods: We assess the mRNA and protein expression of the c-Met genes by means of RT-PCR method and the immunohistochemical stain in 100 cases of thyroid tumors(50 papillary carcinomas, 10 follicular carcinomas, 20 follicular adenomas, 20 nodular hyperplasia). Results: By RT-PCR, c-Met mRNA was detected in 43(86%) in papillary carcinoma, 4(40%) in follicular carcinoma, 4(20%) in follicular adenoma and 2(10%) in nodular hyperplasia cases. By immunohistochemistry, c-Met protein expression was detected in 44(88%), 2(20%), 3(15%) and 1(5%). Expression of the c-Met mRNA and protein expression was significantly highly recognized in papillary carcinoma. The c-Met protein overexpression was significantly correlated with the grade of the differentiation. Conclusion: These results suggest that c-Met expression may be associated with thyroid papillary cancer progression. The differential expression of c-Met protein and mRNA suggests that these molecules may be a reliable diagnostic marker in thyroid papillary cancer.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.38-41
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• 2001

Background and Objectives: Thyroid nodules can be diagnosed by FNAB, neck sonography, CT scan, or frozen section with relative accuracy. But some cases, which show no malignancy with those methods, are proved differentiated carcinomas on permanent sections. These false negative results of those diagnostic methods pose difficulties in the surgeon's decision-making process. We analyzed completion thyroidectomies retrospectively in order to make a treatment guideline for thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods: During the last six years, we performed 243 thyroid lobectomies, no evidence of malignancy with preoperative or intraoperative diagnostic methods at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ansan and Anam Korea University Hospital. Among these cases, 23 patients (male 6, female 17, mean age 33.4 year old) were proved differentiated thyroid carcinomas on permanent section and we performed completion thyroidectomies. Results: Preoperative FNAB showed seven cases of nodular hyperplasia, 11 cases of follicular adenoma, and five cases of inadequate specimen. Among total 15 cases on frozen section, five cases were nodular hyperplasias, and 10 cases were follicular adenomas. Pathologic results of the permanent section were six cases of papillary cell carcinoma and 17 cases of follicular cell carcinoma. Completion thyroidectomy was performed on all these cases. Conclusion: FNAB and frozen section cannot be sufficient to make the diagnosis of thyroid nodule, we consider that completion thyroidectomy should be performed at the moment with malignant evidence on permanent section.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 1998

In order to review the clinicopathologic characteristics of the thyroid cancer associated with benign thyroid disease, we evaluated 47 patients treated between January, 1993 and September, 1997 at the Chonnam National University Hospital. In those period, we had operated a total of 690 thyroidectomy of which 320 were diagnosed as thyroid cancer. Forty three(91.4%)occurred in women and four(8.5%)occurred in men. The mean age at operation was 46.7years(range, 15 to 76 years). Forty three of the 47 cancers(91.4%) were papillary carcinomas while 4(8.5%)were follicular. Twenty four of the 47 patients (51%) were occult thyroid carcinomas measured less than 1 cm in diameter. The concurrent benign disease were nodular goiter(n=17), Hashimoto's thyroiditis(n=16), follicular adenoma(n=10), Graves' disease(n=2) and diffuse hyperplasia(n=2). Thirty one patients were diagnosed by preoperative FNAC and they underwent total thyroidectomy. Three were diagnosed by frozen section examination at the time of operation. Among them, one underwent total thyroidectomy and two underwent subtotal thyroidectomy. Eight cases revealed lymph node metastases and 2 cases extended to surrounding muscles. In conclusion, concurrent thyroid cancers and benign thyroid disease are not uncommon and a regular ultrasonic follow-up with selective aspiration cytologic examination is recommaned to enhance their diagnostic accuracy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5565-5570
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of thyroid lesions among Saudi patients and to highlight the age and gender variations of these lesions as base line data. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from thyroid specimens received at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: The 292 thyroidectomy specimens received during the study period came from 230 (78.8%) females and 62 (21.2%) males giving a female: male ratio of 3.7:1. Age of the patients ranged from 14 to 95 years with a mean age 39.7 years. Two hundred and eleven (72.3%) cases were found to be non-neoplastic and 81 (27.7%) cases were neoplastic. The non-neoplastic group included: colloid goiter, including both diffuse and nodular goiter (170 cases; 58.2%), nodular hyperplasia (28 cases; 9.6%), Hashimoto/chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (12 cases; 4.1%), and Grave's disease (1 case; 0.3%). In neoplastic lesions, there were 7 benign tumors and 74 malignant tumors. Among the benign tumors, 5 were follicular adenomas and 2 were Hurthle cell adenomas. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumor accounting for 87.8% of all thyroid malignancies, followed by lymphoma, follicular carcinoma and medullary carcinoma. The size of papillary carcinoma was more than 2 cm in 40 cases (76.9%). Conclusions: Non-neoplastic thyroid lesions were more common than neoplastic ones. Colloid goiter was the most common lesion. Follicular adenoma was the commonest benign tumor and papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant lesion. There appears to be a slightly increased trend of papillary carcinoma diagnosis, most being diagnosed at an advanced stage.