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Serum Cyfra 21.1 and galectin-3 protein levels in relation to immunohistochemical cytokeratin 19 and galectin-3 expression in patients with thyroid tumors

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the clinical utility of circulating preoperative Cyfra 21.1 [soluble fragment of cytokeratin (CK) 19] and galectin-3 (gal-3) in patients with thyroid tumors, to compare their serum values with tissue expression and to analyze the prognostic significance of these markers in relation to the clinical status of postsurgical differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients.

Patients

Concentrations of Cyfra 21.1 and gal-3 were evaluated by immunoassays in sera of 9 healthy subjects, 97 preoperative patients with diverse thyroid tumors (10 FTA, 63 PTC, 11 FTC, 5 PDTC, 4 ATC, 4 LNM) and 25 postoperative DTC patients (14 remissions and 11 metastases).

Results

Low Cyfra 21.1 values were found in all subgroups, but with a tendency toward higher values in poorly differentiated DTC patients. Compared to the control (0.23 ng/mL), serum levels of gal-3 were significantly elevated in patients with thyroid tumors but with overlapping between adenoma (4.16 ng/mL) and carcinoma (3.85, 4.37, 4.64, 6.07 ng/mL for PTC, PDTC, ATC and LNM, respectively). The tissue expression of CK19 and gal-3 was immunohistochemically determined on 45 matched paraffin-embedded sections. Most thyroid carcinomas showed positive CK19 (27/35) and gal-3 immunostaining (31/35), while adenomas were mostly immunonegative (8/10 and 7/10, respectively). However, there was no significant correlation between their serum and tissue levels. Clinical status of postoperative DTC patients had no influence on serum concentrations of the tested markers.

Conclusions

While CK19 and gal-3 are accurate as tissue markers, their serum levels could not be used as reliable markers for identification of thyroid malignancy or in thyroid cancer follow-up. On the other hand, a tendency toward higher serum levels of Cyfra 21.1 in the small number of PDTC patients examined adds weight to previous reports postulating a role for cytokeratins in predicting a high degree of malignancy.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (project 143039).

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy, INEP, University of Belgrade, Banatska 31b, 11080, Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia

    Tijana Išić, Svetlana Savin, Dubravka Cvejić & Ilona Marečko

  2. Institute of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Svetislav Tatić & Marija Havelka

  3. Centre for Endocrine Surgery, Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Diseases of Metabolism, Clinical Center of Serbia, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ivan Paunović

Authors
  1. Tijana Išić
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  2. Svetlana Savin
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  3. Dubravka Cvejić
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  4. Ilona Marečko
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  5. Svetislav Tatić
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  6. Marija Havelka
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  7. Ivan Paunović
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Correspondence to Svetlana Savin.

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Išić, T., Savin, S., Cvejić, D. et al. Serum Cyfra 21.1 and galectin-3 protein levels in relation to immunohistochemical cytokeratin 19 and galectin-3 expression in patients with thyroid tumors. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 136, 1805–1812 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-010-0838-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-010-0838-3

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