The Expression Of Notch-1and Notch-2in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

[Objective]Thyroid carcinoma was the most common malignant cancer in head and neck neoplasms and it was also at top of the list on incidence rate and mortality rate about head and neck malignant cancer. Its incidence is still on the rise year by year. The Notch signaling pathway plays an important role in the process of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. But until now, there have been few researches about Notch-2and the relationship between Notch-1and Notch-2in thyroid carcinoma. The present study detects the expressions of Notch-1, Notch-2proteins by immunohistochemistry in some cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma and some cases of non-cancerous tissues, in order to determine the expression in these tissues. According to analysis the results, we try to explore the relationship among papillary thyroid carcinoma and non-cancerous tissues as well as clinicopathological features, with the purpose of providing theoretic basis for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid carcinoma.[Methods]We gather tissues array to examine the expression of Notch-1and Notch-2among thyroid papillary carcinoma, nodular goiter, thyroid adenoma and normal thyroid tissue by immunhostochemistry. Detected the expression in these tissues and compared them by dividing into groups, In order to explore relationships among papillary thyroid carcinoma and these two Notch pathway receptors. [Results]1. The positive expression rate of Notch-1protein in papillary thyroid carcinoma (59.6%) is lower than nodular goiter (86.4%), thyroid adenoma (85.7%) or normal thyroid tissues (88.9%). The differences between papillary thyroid and non-cancerous tissues were statically, P<0.05. The comparisons between any two groups of non-cancerous tissues were no statistically significant, P>0.05. There were no associations with patients’ sex and age, P>0.05. Expression of Notch-1was not correlated with tumor diameter (≥1.0cm or<1.0cm), capsular invasion and distant metastasis because there was no statically significant, P>0.05. However, a correlation was showed between the group with lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis. The positive rate of Notch-1protein was (41.7%) in the group without lymph node metastasis and (82.1%) in the group with lymph node metastasis. The difference was statistically significant. The expression of Notch-1in clinical relevance of TNM stage Ⅰ～Ⅱ (78.6%) was higher than stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ (45.8%) and the difference was significant, P<0.05.2. The positive expression rate of Notch-2protein in papillary thyroid carcinoma(90.4%) is marked higher than nodular(22.7%), thyroid adenoma(28.6%) or normal thyroid tissues(16.7%) and the differences were statically, P<0.05. The comparisons between any two groups of non-cancerous tissues were no statistically significant, P>0.05. There were no associations with patients’sex and age, P>0.05. Expression of Notch-2was not correlated with tumor diameter (≥1.0cm or<1.0cm), capsular invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and clinical relevance of TNM stage because there was no statically significant, P>0.05.3. There was no relationship between the expression of Noth-1and Notch-2protein, r=-0.257, P>0.05.[Conclusion]1. The positive expression rate of Notch-1in the papillary thyroid carcinoma is lower than nodular goiter, thyroid adenoma and normal thyroid tissues. It suggests that Notch-1protein may hinder the occurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma.2. There was a different expression of Notch-1protein between those with lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis. It indicates that Notch-1protein may be related with lymph node metastasis of papillary carcinoma. There was a different expression of Notch-1protein between the clinical relevance of TNM stag Ⅰ～Ⅱ and stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ. It indicates that Notch-1protein may be related with the clinical relevance of TNM stage.3. The positive expression rate of Notch-2in the papillary thyroid carcinoma is higher than nodular goiter, thyroid adenoma and normal thyroid tissues. It suggests that Notch-2protein may promote the occurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma.4. In papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues, there was no correlation between the expression of Notch-1and Notch-2protein.