Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Pathology. 2011 Jan;43(1):40-7. doi: 10.1097/PAT.0b013e328340bb46.
There are no quantitative data on the mRNA expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and transformation growth factor alpha (TGF-α) in thyroid carcinoma. The aims of this study were to detect, quantify and analyse the clinicopathological correlations of the expression of these genes in a large cohort of patients with thyroid carcinoma.
EGFR and TGF-α expression were investigated using real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry on 71 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), 68 paired non-cancer thyroid tissues adjacent to the PTC and 20 benign thyroid lesions.
TGF-α and EGFR mRNA increased in PTC when compared with benign thyroid lesions. In many PTCs with high level of expression of TGF-α and EGFR mRNA, the morphological non-cancer tissue adjacent to the cancer also showed high levels of expression of these mRNAs. The levels of expression of mRNA of TGF-α and EGFR correlated with each other and with the level of protein expression. The level of expression of TGF-α mRNA was significantly related to lymphovascular permeation while the expression of EGFR mRNA was related to the pathological subtype of PTC and cancer recurrence.
TGF-α and EGFR were overexpressed, correlated with each other and associated with the pathological parameters in papillary thyroid carcinoma. The results provide information for management of thyroid cancer in the era of gene targeting therapy.
目前尚无关于甲状腺癌中表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）和转化生长因子α（TGF-α）mRNA 表达的定量数据。本研究旨在检测、定量分析并分析这些基因在大量甲状腺癌患者中的表达与临床病理参数的相关性。
采用实时定量聚合酶链反应和免疫组织化学方法检测 71 例甲状腺乳头状癌（PTC）、68 对癌旁非癌甲状腺组织和 20 例良性甲状腺病变中 EGFR 和 TGF-α 的表达。
与良性甲状腺病变相比，PTC 中 TGF-α 和 EGFR mRNA 表达增加。在许多 TGF-α 和 EGFR mRNA 高表达的 PTC 中，癌旁形态上的非癌组织也表现出这些 mRNA 的高表达。TGF-α 和 EGFR mRNA 的表达水平相互关联，与蛋白表达水平相关。TGF-α mRNA 的表达水平与血管淋巴管浸润显著相关，而 EGFR mRNA 的表达与 PTC 的病理亚型和癌症复发有关。
TGF-α 和 EGFR 在甲状腺乳头状癌中过度表达，彼此相关，并与病理参数相关。这些结果为基因靶向治疗时代的甲状腺癌管理提供了信息。
