beta 1-Integrin expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

beta 1-integrins are widespread adhesion molecules which belong to a family of heterodimeric membrane glycoproteins and consist of two subunits, alpha and beta. Integrins seem to play an important role in the spreading and metastasis of malignant tumors. We investigated the expression and distribution of these adhesion molecules on papillary thyroid carcinomas by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded cancer tissues. We estimated the beta 1-integrin expression in cancerous areas in comparison to normal adjacent thyroid tissue. Our results revealed a highly significant difference in all investigated parameters between cancer and normal thyroid cells (p < 0.0001). Comparing our findings with the metastatic potential of the primary thyroid tumors, our results show that beta 1-integrin expression could be used as a prognostic parameter for papillary thyroid tumors.