Apostolos K Karagiannis1,2, Anastassios Philippou1, Sofia Tseleni-Balafouta2, Evaggelos Zevolis1, Theodora Nakouti3, Maria Tsopanomichalou-Gklotsou4, Vasilis Psarras5, Michael Koutsilieris6. 1. Department of Physiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 2. First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 3. Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. 4. Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. 5. Orofacial Pain Clinic, Dental School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 6. Department of Physiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece mkoutsil@med.uoa.gr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Recent knowledge implicates a differential expression of the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) mRNA splice variants (i.e., IGF-IEa, IGF-IEb and IGF-IEc) in cancerous tissues, implying possible specific roles of the encoded IGF-I protein isoforms in cancer biology. In particular, there is growing evidence that the IGF-IEc isoform may play a distinct biological role in various types of cancers. The present study investigated whether IGF-IEc expression is associated with a particular type of thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of different types of thyroid cancers from 92 patients were assessed for IGF-IEc expression by immunohistochemistry. In addition, thyroid cancer biopsies of different TNM staging histological types were evaluated for mRNA expression of the IGF-IEc transcript by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: From the total number of 92 samples, 2 were anaplastic, 10 medullary, 4 hyperplasias of C-cells, 11 follicular, 5 hurtle cell carcinomas, 2 poorly differentiated, 5 nodular hyperplasias, 1 lymphoma and 52 were papillary thyroid cancers. The age of cancer diagnosis or tumor size did not significantly affect the IGF-IEc expression. Among all types of cancers, IGF-IEc was expressed in papillary differentiated thyroid cancer. Its expression/localization was mainly cytoplasmic and significantly associated with TNM staging and the presence of muscular and capsule cancerous invasion (p<0.05). Similarly, a differential profile was revealed regarding the mRNA expression of the IGF-IEc transcript, that exhibited a higher expression in aggressive compared to the non-aggressive papillary cancers. CONCLUSION: IGF-IEc isoform expression in thyroid cancer is positively associated with more advanced stages of papillary thyroid cancer. Copyright
BACKGROUND/AIM: Recent knowledge implicates a differential expression of the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) mRNA splice variants (i.e., IGF-IEa, IGF-IEb and IGF-IEc) in cancerous tissues, implying possible specific roles of the encoded IGF-I protein isoforms in cancer biology. In particular, there is growing evidence that the IGF-IEc isoform may play a distinct biological role in various types of cancers. The present study investigated whether IGF-IEc expression is associated with a particular type of thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of different types of thyroid cancers from 92 patients were assessed for IGF-IEc expression by immunohistochemistry. In addition, thyroid cancer biopsies of different TNM staging histological types were evaluated for mRNA expression of the IGF-IEc transcript by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: From the total number of 92 samples, 2 were anaplastic, 10 medullary, 4 hyperplasias of C-cells, 11 follicular, 5 hurtle cell carcinomas, 2 poorly differentiated, 5 nodular hyperplasias, 1 lymphoma and 52 were papillary thyroid cancers. The age of cancer diagnosis or tumor size did not significantly affect the IGF-IEc expression. Among all types of cancers, IGF-IEc was expressed in papillary differentiated thyroid cancer. Its expression/localization was mainly cytoplasmic and significantly associated with TNM staging and the presence of muscular and capsule cancerous invasion (p<0.05). Similarly, a differential profile was revealed regarding the mRNA expression of the IGF-IEc transcript, that exhibited a higher expression in aggressive compared to the non-aggressive papillary cancers. CONCLUSION: IGF-IEc isoform expression in thyroid cancer is positively associated with more advanced stages of papillary thyroid cancer. Copyright