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Galectin-3 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma: relation to histomorphologic growth pattern, lymph node
Dubravka S Cvejic1, Svetlana B Savin, Ivana M Petrovic
1Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy-INEP, University of Belgrade, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Banatska 31b, Serbia and Montenegro. dubravka@inep.co.yu
Background:
Galectin-3 has been recently recognized as a promising presurgical marker of thyroid malignancy.
Methods:
Galectin-3 expression was examined immunohistochemically in 202 specimens of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in relation to histomorphologic subtypes and clinicopathologic data. RESULTS.: The sensitivity of galectin-3 immunostaining versus conventional histology was 98% (100 of 102) for classical PTC, 85.2% (46 of 54) for follicular variant, and 50% (23 of 46) for follicular/solid variant of PTC. All cases (n = 36) involving lymph node metastases and 42 of 45 cases with extrathyroid invasion expressed galectin-3. However, among the galectin-3-positive cases (n = 169), 133 were without lymph node metastases, and 127 were without extrathyroid invasion. Galectin-3 expression was not related to the size of intrathyroid PTC.
Conclusions:
Galectin-3 immunohistochemical expression itself is not an indicator of local metastatic spread or extrathyroid invasion of PTC, thus being irrelevant clinically from this aspect. Galectin-3 is an excellent marker for classical PTC but must be used with caution in diagnosing unconventional variants of PTC because of the possibility of false-negative results.
