Elevated Expression Of GARP Is Related To Human Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

ObjectiveRegulatory T cells(Tregs)are immunosuppressive immune cells that can inhibit antitumor immune function and promote tumor development.Suppression of Treg function is considered to be an important strategy for cancer therapy.Glycoprotein A Repetitions Predominant(GARP)has been found on the surface of activated Tregs.It has been recently observed in only a few solid tumors including breast,colon,lung cancers and melanoma.However,its function in cancers remains unknown.In the present study,we investigated the expression and prognostic significance of GARP in human papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC).MethodsParaffin-embedded samples of 39 human PTC and benign thyroid diseases,that were operated and diagnosed on the basis of histological and clinical findings at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from 2011 to 2014.Using immunohistochemistry,we measured the expression of GARP and Foxp3 in 19 human PTC tissues(including 10 cases with and 9 cases without lymph node metastasis)and 20 benign thyroid diseases(including 10 cases with nodular goiter and 10 cases with adenoma).Results1.The expression of GARP was found to be higher in PTC than its expression in benign thyroid diseases(P<0.05).2.Elevated expression of GARP in thyroid tissue was significantlycorrelated with increased Foxp3 expression(P=0.000).3.But elevated GARP expression was not significantly associated with lymph node metastasis in PTC(P>0.05).Conclusions1.It is suggested that GARP is closely related to the occurrence of PTC,which is an important biological marker in PTC,and is also a potential new target in anti-tumor therapy.2.Our findings provide further evidence of a positive-feedback loop between GARP and Foxp3.