CD105 (Endoglin) Expression as a Prognostic Marker in Aggressive Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pathology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common thyroid cancer, with most cases having a good prognosis.
• Aggressive PTC can metastasize to lymph nodes and distant organs, necessitating better diagnostic and prognostic markers.
• CD105 (endoglin), a marker of neoangiogenesis, shows potential as a prognostic factor in various cancers but is understudied in PTC metastasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate CD105 (endoglin) expression for differentiating benign thyroid nodules from PTC.
• To assess CD105's role in predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) in PTC.
• To correlate CD105 expression and microvascular density (MVD) with PTC prognosis.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of CD105 expression in 148 thyroid tissue samples (49 benign, 48 non-metastatic PTC, 51 metastatic PTC).
• Classification of tissues based on CD105 expression and calculation of CD105 microvascular density (MVD) scores.
• Comparison of clinical and pathological features across benign, non-metastatic, and metastatic PTC groups.

Main Results:

• CD105 expression rates were significantly different: 8.2% in benign, 64.6% in non-metastatic PTC, and 80.4% in metastatic PTC.
• Higher CD105 MVD scores were strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001).
• All patients with distant organ metastasis showed CD105 expression and significantly higher MVD scores (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• CD105 expression is a valuable biomarker for distinguishing benign thyroid nodules from malignant PTC.
• CD105 MVD scores can serve as a quantitative indicator of PTC aggressiveness and metastatic potential.
• CD105 holds promise for improving the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic evaluation of thyroid nodules.