Gaffney Robyn L, Carney J Aidan, Sebo Thomas J, Erickson Lori A, Volante Marco, Papotti Mauro, Lloyd Ricardo V
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Am J Surg Pathol. 2003 Apr;27(4):494-8. doi: 10.1097/00000478-200304000-00009.
Galectin-3, a beta-galactoside-binding lectin, is overexpressed in many neoplasms and may be useful when differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid neoplasms. Recently, interest has focused on the classification and biologic behavior of hyalinizing trabecular tumors (HTTs). In this study we compared galectin-3 expression in a number of different thyroid neoplasms to gain insight into the biologic behavior of HTT. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 153 thyroid neoplasms were stained with a monoclonal antibody to galectin-3. These tumors included 58 HTTs, 60 papillary carcinomas, 21 follicular carcinomas, and 14 follicular adenomas. Reactivity was graded as negative, weak, or strong by three observers. The average patient age was similar in the patients with HTTs, papillary carcinomas, and follicular adenomas. The patients with follicular carcinomas were approximately a decade older than all other groups of patients. All groups of thyroid neoplasms occurred more frequently in female patients. Follow-up revealed metastatic disease in patients with papillary (36.6%) and follicular carcinomas (19%) but not in patients with follicular adenomas or HTTs. Galectin-3 immunostaining showed that 60% of the HTTs were negative or had weak (H) (1+) staining and 40% had strong (2-3+) staining. In the majority of the reactive cases, staining was diffuse and predominantly cytoplasmic. Fifty of the 60 (83%) papillary carcinomas and 11 of the 21 (52%) follicular carcinomas showed strong immunostaining. The immunostaining was also diffuse in the majority of papillary and follicular carcinomas. The strong immunoreactivity seen in most of the carcinomas was in contrast to the relatively weak or negative immunostaining in the majority of follicular adenomas (93%). The immunophenotype of HTT, as characterized by galectin-3 expression, is intermediate between that of benign and malignant thyroid tumors, suggesting that some tumors with strong staining may behave like carcinomas, although this was not noted in our cases. Our study suggests that the variable pattern of galectin-3 expression may reflect a difference in biologic behavior between HTT and papillary thyroid carcinoma.
半乳糖凝集素-3是一种β-半乳糖苷结合凝集素，在许多肿瘤中过度表达，在鉴别甲状腺良恶性肿瘤时可能有用。最近，人们的兴趣集中在透明变梁状肿瘤（HTTs）的分类和生物学行为上。在本研究中，我们比较了多种不同甲状腺肿瘤中半乳糖凝集素-3的表达情况，以深入了解HTT的生物学行为。对153例甲状腺肿瘤的福尔马林固定、石蜡包埋组织用抗半乳糖凝集素-3单克隆抗体进行染色。这些肿瘤包括58例HTTs、60例乳头状癌、21例滤泡状癌和14例滤泡性腺瘤。由三名观察者将反应性分为阴性、弱阳性或强阳性。HTTs、乳头状癌和滤泡性腺瘤患者的平均年龄相似。滤泡状癌患者比所有其他患者组大约大十岁。所有甲状腺肿瘤组在女性患者中更为常见。随访发现乳头状癌（36.6%）和滤泡状癌（19%）患者有转移性疾病，但滤泡性腺瘤或HTTs患者未出现。半乳糖凝集素-3免疫染色显示，60%的HTTs为阴性或弱阳性（H）（1+）染色，40%为强阳性（2-3+）染色。在大多数反应性病例中，染色弥漫且主要位于细胞质。60例乳头状癌中的50例（83%）和21例滤泡状癌中的11例（52%）显示强免疫染色。大多数乳头状癌和滤泡状癌的免疫染色也弥漫。大多数癌中所见的强免疫反应性与大多数滤泡性腺瘤（93%）中相对较弱或阴性的免疫染色形成对比。以半乳糖凝集素-3表达为特征的HTT免疫表型介于甲状腺良恶性肿瘤之间，提示一些强染色肿瘤可能表现得像癌，尽管在我们的病例中未观察到。我们的研究表明，半乳糖凝集素-3表达的可变模式可能反映了HTT与甲状腺乳头状癌之间生物学行为的差异。
