ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: An increased expression of cyclin D1 has been observed in several tumors. Vimentin is known to be present in undifferentiated thyroid cancer. The serum thyroglobulin level can be a useful laboratory parameter to detect tumor recurrence in patients suffering with treated, well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. We performed immunohistochemical assay for the cyclin D1, vimentin and thyroglobulin (Tg) expression in 97 papillary thyroid cancer tissue specimens to investigate their clinical implication for the prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma patients. METHODS: Immunohistochemical assays for cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg were performed on 97 consecutive thyroid carcinoma specimens. The correlation between these factors and the clinicobiological parameters weas analyzed. RESULTS: In 97 papillary thyroid carcinoma specimens, the expression of cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg was seen in 64 cases (66.0%), 36 cases (37.1%) and 55 cases (56.7%), respectively. Only the cyclin D1 expression was significantly increased in the larger tumors (P=0.01). However, there was no evident correlation between these factors and gender, age, tumor size, the lymph node status, the TNM stage and the number of tumors. CONCLUSION: An increased expression of cyclin D1 was present in the larger tumors. Overexpression of cyclin D1 seemed to play a role in carcinogenesis and tumor growth. However, the clinical utility of cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg in thyroid cancer patients has to be further defined by prospective studies with larger sample sizes.