Takano Toru, Yamada Hiroya
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Endocr J. 2009;56(1):9-16. doi: 10.1507/endocrj.k08e-105. Epub 2008 May 28.
Since the introduction of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the 1970's, a preoperative diagnostic technique for thyroid follicular carcinoma has long been awaited. Many markers that distinguish follicular carcinomas from adenomas have been reported; however, most of them have not been confirmed to be beneficial for clinical use. Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) is a relatively new family of peptides that bears the three-loop trefoil domain. Several groups have reported that the suppression of TFF3 mRNA expression is related to malignant characteristics of thyroid follicular cell-derived tumors and the expression level of TFF3 mRNA is the most promising indicator for diagnosing follicular carcinoma. Development of TFF3-based diagnostic methods is now ongoing and it may not be long before thyroid follicular carcinoma can be diagnosed preoperatively using an aspirated sample from the tumor.
自20世纪70年代引入细针穿刺活检（FNAB）以来，甲状腺滤泡癌的术前诊断技术一直备受期待。许多区分滤泡癌和腺瘤的标志物已被报道；然而，其中大多数尚未被证实对临床应用有益。三叶因子3（TFF3）是一个相对较新的肽家族，具有三环状三叶结构域。几个研究小组报告称，TFF3 mRNA表达的抑制与甲状腺滤泡细胞源性肿瘤的恶性特征有关，TFF3 mRNA的表达水平是诊断滤泡癌最有前景的指标。基于TFF3的诊断方法目前正在开发中，用肿瘤穿刺样本术前诊断甲状腺滤泡癌可能为时不远。
