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uPA receptor expression in benign and malignant thyroid tumors
Seung Jin Kim1, Eiichi Shiba, Tetsuya Taguchi
1Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka University Medical School, Suita City, Japan. kimsj@onsurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Anticancer Research
|May 23, 2002
Summary
Urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) expression is elevated in thyroid cancers compared to benign tumors. High uPAR levels may help distinguish follicular thyroid cancer from adenoma and serve as a prognostic factor for papillary thyroid cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Pathology
Background:
- Urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is implicated in cancer invasion and metastasis.
- uPAR expression in thyroid carcinomas is not well-characterized.
- This study aimed to assess the clinical relevance of uPAR in thyroid tumors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate uPAR expression in various thyroid tumors.
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of uPAR in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions.
- To determine the prognostic significance of uPAR in papillary thyroid cancer.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed 53 benign thyroid tumors and 62 thyroid cancers (including PTC, FTC, MTC, ATC).
- Quantified uPAR expression using a labeled streptavidin-biotin method with an anti-uPAR antibody.
- Categorized patients into low- and high-uPAR expression groups based on a 10% positivity cut-off.
Main Results:
- uPAR expression was significantly higher in thyroid cancers (35.5%) than in benign tumors (7.5%).
- Follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) exhibited higher uPAR expression than follicular adenoma (p<0.01).
- In papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), high uPAR expression correlated with poor differentiation (p<0.01) and showed a trend towards increased distant metastases.
Conclusions:
- uPAR expression can aid in distinguishing follicular thyroid cancer from follicular adenoma.
- uPAR may serve as a potential prognostic marker for papillary thyroid cancer progression.