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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 23, 2026

An Ex vivo Culture System to Study Thyroid Development

An Ex vivo Culture System to Study Thyroid Development

Published on: June 6, 2014

Galectin-3 is not useful in thyroid FNA.

L J Mills¹, D N Poller, C Yiangou

¹Department of Cytology, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, Portsmouth, UK.

Cytopathology : Official Journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology

|June 1, 2005

Summary

Galectin-3 immunohistochemistry is not a reliable tool for diagnosing thyroid cancer via fine needle aspiration (FNA). Many thyroid FNAs lack sufficient cells for accurate cell block analysis, limiting its diagnostic utility.

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Area of Science:

Oncology
Pathology
Immunohistochemistry

Background:

Previous research suggested galectin-3 immunohistochemistry could aid thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) diagnosis.
Galectin-3 was thought to selectively stain thyroid carcinomas, differentiating them from benign lesions.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the utility of galectin-3 immunohistochemistry as an adjunct diagnostic tool in thyroid FNA.
To determine if galectin-3 reliably distinguishes malignant from benign thyroid lesions.

Main Methods:

A prospective study included 51 patients undergoing thyroid FNA.
Cell blocks were prepared and stained for galectin-3 if sufficient cells were present in needle washings.
Patient demographics included 88.2% female, 11.8% male, with a mean age of 53 years.

Main Results:

Only 23.5% of cell blocks contained adequate epithelial cells for analysis.
One papillary carcinoma showed positive galectin-3 staining, while three other carcinomas (two papillary, one follicular) were negative.
Benign, inadequate, and suspicious for carcinoma cases showed variable galectin-3 staining (negative in four cases).

Conclusions:

Galectin-3 immunohistochemistry is not a reliable adjunct for diagnosing thyroid FNA specimens.
The low cellularity of many thyroid aspirates limits the effectiveness of cell block immunohistochemistry.
Galectin-3 does not consistently differentiate between malignant and benign thyroid lesions.