open access

Vol 46, No 4 (2008)
Original paper
Submitted: 2011-12-19
Published online: 2009-01-15
Get Citation

Immunoexpression of TTF-1 and Ki-67 in a coexistent anaplastic and follicular thyroid cancer with rare long-life surviving.

El Ali Ziad, Marek Ruchala, Jan Breborowicz, Maciej Gembicki, Jerzy Sowinski, Marian Grzymislawski
DOI: 10.2478/v10042-008-0071-y
·
Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2008;46(4):461-464.

open access

Vol 46, No 4 (2008)
ORIGINAL PAPERS
Submitted: 2011-12-19
Published online: 2009-01-15

Abstract

We report the immunohistochemical diagnosis, including TTF-1 (thyroid transcription factor 1) and Ki-67, of a rare mixed thyroid neoplasm composed of minimally invasive well differentiated follicular areas and highly aggressive undifferentiated anaplastic areas. A 75 old female presented to our clinic with a rapidly growing neck mass. Considering the dynamics of the disease and the multiple challenges presented by the patient: advanced age, tumor size, history of a longstanding goiter we decided to transfer her to the department of surgery. The intraoperative findings were an enlarged right lobe with tracheal and surrounding tissues infiltration. Total thyroidectomy, radical neck lymph nodes dissection and tracheostomy were performed. The histopathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed a coexistent anaplastic and follicular thyroid carcinoma. The proliferation index Ki-67, a cell proliferation marker, was found to be significantly higher in the anaplastic areas (30 +/- 5%) in the comparison with the follicular areas (2 +/- 1%). The evaluation of the thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) expression revealed a correlation with the tumor cells aggressiveness accordingly to the cancer areas. After a radical surgery an external adjuvant radiation was applied. The patient is alive and more than five years after diagnosis she presented an increase of the serum thyroglobulin level suggesting, probably, a recurrence of the follicular form of the cancer. According to our survey we suggest that in thyroid cancers TTF-1 and Ki-67 could provides useful information on the differentiation activities of thyroid tumor cells and may be helpful to distinguish well differentiated and undifferentiated areas in a mixed thyroid cancer.

Abstract

We report the immunohistochemical diagnosis, including TTF-1 (thyroid transcription factor 1) and Ki-67, of a rare mixed thyroid neoplasm composed of minimally invasive well differentiated follicular areas and highly aggressive undifferentiated anaplastic areas. A 75 old female presented to our clinic with a rapidly growing neck mass. Considering the dynamics of the disease and the multiple challenges presented by the patient: advanced age, tumor size, history of a longstanding goiter we decided to transfer her to the department of surgery. The intraoperative findings were an enlarged right lobe with tracheal and surrounding tissues infiltration. Total thyroidectomy, radical neck lymph nodes dissection and tracheostomy were performed. The histopathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed a coexistent anaplastic and follicular thyroid carcinoma. The proliferation index Ki-67, a cell proliferation marker, was found to be significantly higher in the anaplastic areas (30 +/- 5%) in the comparison with the follicular areas (2 +/- 1%). The evaluation of the thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) expression revealed a correlation with the tumor cells aggressiveness accordingly to the cancer areas. After a radical surgery an external adjuvant radiation was applied. The patient is alive and more than five years after diagnosis she presented an increase of the serum thyroglobulin level suggesting, probably, a recurrence of the follicular form of the cancer. According to our survey we suggest that in thyroid cancers TTF-1 and Ki-67 could provides useful information on the differentiation activities of thyroid tumor cells and may be helpful to distinguish well differentiated and undifferentiated areas in a mixed thyroid cancer.
Get Citation
About this article
Title

Immunoexpression of TTF-1 and Ki-67 in a coexistent anaplastic and follicular thyroid cancer with rare long-life surviving.

Journal

Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica

Issue

Vol 46, No 4 (2008)

Article type

Original paper

Pages

461-464

Published online

2009-01-15

Page views

2352

Article views/downloads

1915

DOI

10.2478/v10042-008-0071-y

Bibliographic record

Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2008;46(4):461-464.

Authors

El Ali Ziad
Marek Ruchala
Jan Breborowicz
Maciej Gembicki
Jerzy Sowinski
Marian Grzymislawski

Regulations

Important: This website uses cookies. More >>

The cookies allow us to identify your computer and find out details about your last visit. They remembering whether you've visited the site before, so that you remain logged in - or to help us work out how many new website visitors we get each month. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer.

By VM Media Group sp z o.o., ul. Świętokrzyska 73, 80–180 Gdańsk

tel.:+48 58 320 94 94, faks:+48 58 320 94 60, e-mail:  viamedica@viamedica.pl