TUMOR PROLIFERATION-RELATED MARKERS IN PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMAS -CORRELATION WITH HISTOLOGIC SUBTYPES

Four sorts of tumor proliferation-related markers were studied in 50 p apillary carcinomas of the thyroid, and the results were correlated wi th the histologic subtypes of papillary thyroid carcinoma, which have been shown to be associated with the prognosis of the disease. The mit otic count analyzed by light microscopy, the proliferating cell nuclea r antigen (PCNA) and the epidermal growth factor (EGF) expressions by immunohistochemical analysis, and the ploidy status analyzed by DNA fl ow cytometry were used as the proliferation-related markers in this st udy. The presence of mitoses, high PCNA score and DNA aneuploidy did n ot correlate with the histologic subtypes, patient age, sex or the tum or extent. Only EGF expression was significantly correlated with the h istologic subtypes. This finding suggests that EGF expression may be t he most reliable marker to predict the prognosis of papillary carcinom a of the thyroid.