Affiliations: [a] Pathology Department, Medical Research Institute, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt | [b] Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt | [c] Molecular Biology Department, Medical Technology Centre, MRI, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: E. El-Abd, Molecular Biology Department, Medical Technology Centre, MRI, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt. Tel.: +20 966569901715; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Thyroid nodules require pre-surgical cytological
assessment for possible risk of malignancy. Many techniques were introduced
to enhance differential diagnosis and to avoid unnecessary diagnostic
surgery. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to investigate the potential use of ECM1
gene and MMP-2 protein as preoperative tumor markers in suspicious
follicular thyroid lesions. METHODS: The study included 40 Egyptian cases with solitary thyroid
nodules. They underwent preoperative FNAB followed by thyroidectomy. MMP-2
protein and ECM1 gene were detected using immunostaining and conventional
semi-quantitative RT-PCR techniques; respectively. The diagnostic accuracy
of FNAB, gene and protein expression level cutoffs was calculated by using
ROC. RESULTS: Both MMP-2 protein and ECM1 gene expressions were
significantly higher in malignant than benign group (P < 0.001). Both were
significantly higher in higher tumor stages (PMMP-2= 0.002;
PECM1 = 0.032) but only ECM1 significantly differed with tumor size (P < 0.006). The diagnostic performances of ECM1 expression scores
was
significantly better than that of FNAB (P = 0.049). A significant direct
correlation was detected between ECM1 gene and MMP-2 protein expressions in
cases of FVPC and of FC (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: MMP-2 protein and ECM1 gene are useful preoperative
markers for defining malignancy in suspicious thyroid nodules.
