Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Head Neck. 2019 Mar;41(3):686-691. doi: 10.1002/hed.25469. Epub 2019 Jan 19.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a role in thyroid cancer tumor progression and metastasis. This study aimed to investigate the association of TAM density and cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68) expression with thyroid tumors as a prognostic marker and the relationship of these factors with BRAF mutations.
This study included 275 thyroid specimen tissues, including benign and malignant lesions. We compared the clinicopathological features according to thyroid tumor types and evaluated the presence of CD68 expression and BRAF mutations.
CD68 positive expression increased with aggressiveness of thyroid tumor histologic grades (P < 0.001). In patients with poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), CD68 positivity was associated with aggressive adverse clinical outcomes such as extrathyroidal extension, cervical lymph node metastases, and distant metastases (P < 0.05).
CD68 positivity was more frequent in advanced and aggressive thyroid cancer types such as PDTC/ATC.
肿瘤相关巨噬细胞（TAMs）在甲状腺癌肿瘤的进展和转移中起作用。本研究旨在探讨 TAM 密度和分化群 68（CD68）表达与甲状腺肿瘤的关系，作为一种预后标志物，并研究这些因素与 BRAF 突变的关系。
本研究包括 275 例甲状腺标本组织，包括良性和恶性病变。我们根据甲状腺肿瘤类型比较了临床病理特征，并评估了 CD68 表达和 BRAF 突变的存在。
CD68 阳性表达随着甲状腺肿瘤组织学分级的侵袭性增加而增加（P<0.001）。在分化型甲状腺癌（PDTC）和间变性甲状腺癌（ATC）患者中，CD68 阳性与侵袭性不良临床结局相关，如甲状腺外侵犯、颈部淋巴结转移和远处转移（P<0.05）。
CD68 阳性在 PDTC/ATC 等侵袭性和侵袭性较强的甲状腺癌类型中更为常见。
