Up-regulated lipocalin-2 in pediatric thyroid cancer correlated with poor clinical characteristics

The incidence of thyroid cancer is fast increasing in both adults and children. The pediatric thyroid cancer had often already progressed to a more advanced stage of the disease at diagnosis. Early detection of pediatric thyroid cancer has been a problem for many years. Lipocalin-2 (Lcn2) has been reported to be over-expressed in cancers of diverse histological origin and it facilitates tumorigenesis by promoting survival, growth, and metastasis.

The plasma Lcn2 concentration of 28 Chinese papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) children and 24 healthy controls was measured. Immunostaining for Ki-67 of tumor tissue from PTC children was performed. The expression levels of Lcn2 and NFκB in PTC tissue and peri-carcinoma tissue of PTC children were measured through Western blot.

The plasma concentration of Lcn2 was significantly elevated in pediatric PTC patients compared with healthy controls. Besides, the plasma Lcn2 concentration significantly correlated with clinical characteristics, NFκB level, and Ki-67 positive rate of nucleus in tissue of PTC.

This is the first study to evaluate the plasma Lcn2 in pediatric PTC patients. It is possible that the plasma Lcn2 may be a new biomarker of pediatric thyroid cancer. Further studies are needed to explore the definite role and mechanism of Lcn2 in thyroid cancer, which will help to explore novel diagnostic or therapeutic strategies.