Rationales for the Use of Cancer Stem Cells Markers in the Staging of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a standard procedure for the detection of thyroid nodules malignancy, yet 10-25% of the sample diagnosed may go undetermined or suspicious. The utility of cancer stem cell markers (CSCM) as a differential diagnosis molecular marker in nodules of suspicious decision in FNAB was hypothesized. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and thyroid fibroadenoma (TFA) samples were selected to test the hypothesis. The samples employed in this study were from patients who had thyroid hyperplasia and a suspicious or undetermined diagnosis by FNAB. The patient underwent a successful thyroidectomy at Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad between January 2015 and December 2017. All nodule samples underwent a systematic histopathological examination after resection. Tumors diagnosed as PTC and those diagnosed as fibroadenoma (TFA) were selected for this study. Collectively 39 PTC and 11 TFA nodules were included. Quantitative reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to determine levels of mRNA and proteins of CSCM ALDH1A1, CD44, ABCG2, and Oct3/4 in both types of tumors were used. This study revealed that the expression levels of CSCM were significantly increased in PTC tissues when compared to benign tissues and the positive correlation was found between the CSCM expression levels and tumor stage, size, and gender. In conclusion, for a more precise diagnosis, we suggest these markers be included in what is currently available to characterize malignancy from what is not in thyroid cancer, as well as for the staging process of PTC.

Immunohistochemical expression of ALHD1A1 in thyroid goiter and normal peritumor tissue around papillary thyroid carcinoma in a sample of Iraq patients

“…In this study, we observed an increased ALDH1A1 expression score with increasing age (although statistically non-significant), with slight male predominance especially in NPT group. This finding coincides with many authors (34)(22) (28). However, a recent study by Kim and Koo has shown no correlation between different gender and age with ALDH1A1 expression in different thyroid tissues (39).…”

Long non-coding ROR promotes the progression of papillary thyroid carcinoma through regulation of the TESC/ALDH1A1/TUBB3/PTEN axis

“…A recent study has shown that STAT3 activation induced by TESC can upregulate the expression of ALDH1 in non-small cell lung cancer [14], suggesting that TESC can also potentially induce the upregulation of ALDH1. Parallel to our finding, ALDH1A1 displayed notably higher expression in PTC tissues than in normal tissues and had a positive correlation with the tumor stage and size [33]. Similarly, ALDH1A1 knockdown resulted in suppressed proliferative and migratory potential of lung cancer cells [34].…”