Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, University of Athens, 75 M. Asias str., Goudi, Athens, Greece.
APMIS. 2010 Mar;118(3):210-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2009.02582.x.
Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) expression on tumor cells is associated with sensitivity to adenoviral infection, being considered as a surrogate marker for monitoring and/or predicting adenovirus-mediated gene therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of CAR expression in human benign and malignant thyroid lesions. CAR protein expression was assessed immunohistochemically on paraffin-embedded thyroid tissues from 107 patients with benign and malignant lesions and was statistically analyzed in relation to histopathologic type; tumor size; lymph node metastasis; capsular, lymphatic and vessel invasion; as well as follicular cells' proliferative capacity. CAR immunoreactivity was characterized as negative/weak in 53 (49.53%), moderate in 31 (28.97%) and strong in 23 (21.50%) of 107 thyroid cases. CAR immunoreactivity was significantly increased in malignant compared with that in benign thyroid lesions (p = 0.00002). Both malignant and benign thyroid lesions with enhanced follicular cells' proliferative capacity showed significantly increased CAR immunoreactivity (p = 0.00027). In malignant thyroid lesions, enhanced CAR immunoreactivity was significantly associated with larger tumor size (p = 0.0067). The current data revealed that CAR immunoreactivity could be considered of diagnostic utility in thyroid neoplasia. Further research effort is warranted to delineate whether CAR could be considered clinically important for both diagnosis and future (gene) therapeutic applications in thyroid neoplasia.
柯萨奇病毒和腺病毒受体 (CAR) 在肿瘤细胞上的表达与腺病毒感染的敏感性相关，被认为是监测和/或预测腺病毒介导的基因治疗的替代标志物。本研究旨在评估 CAR 表达在人类良性和恶性甲状腺病变中的临床意义。采用免疫组织化学方法检测 107 例良性和恶性甲状腺病变石蜡包埋组织中 CAR 蛋白的表达，并与组织病理学类型、肿瘤大小、淋巴结转移、包膜、淋巴管和血管侵犯以及滤泡细胞增殖能力进行统计学分析。CAR 免疫反应性在 107 例甲状腺病例中，53 例（49.53%）为阴性/弱阳性，31 例（28.97%）为中度阳性，23 例（21.50%）为强阳性。恶性甲状腺病变中 CAR 免疫反应性明显高于良性甲状腺病变（p = 0.00002）。具有增强滤泡细胞增殖能力的良性和恶性甲状腺病变的 CAR 免疫反应性均显著增加（p = 0.00027）。在恶性甲状腺病变中，增强的 CAR 免疫反应性与肿瘤体积较大显著相关（p = 0.0067）。目前的数据表明，CAR 免疫反应性可作为甲状腺肿瘤诊断的有用指标。需要进一步的研究来阐明 CAR 是否可以被认为对甲状腺肿瘤的诊断和未来（基因）治疗应用具有重要的临床意义。
