Expression of Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Korea

• Published in: Cancer research and treatment Vol. 53; no. 4; pp. 1204 - 1212
• Main Authors: Ahn, Hwa Young, Song, Ra-Yeong, Ahn, Hye Shin, Kim, Hee Sung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Cancer Association 01.10.2021; 대한암학회
• Subjects: Adult; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; ErbB Receptors - genetics; ErbB Receptors - metabolism; Estrogen Receptor alpha - genetics; Estrogen Receptor alpha - metabolism; Estrogen Receptor beta - genetics; Estrogen Receptor beta - metabolism; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - genetics; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - metabolism; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - pathology; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - surgery; Original; Prognosis; Receptors, Progesterone - genetics; Receptors, Progesterone - metabolism; Republic of Korea; Retrospective Studies; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - genetics; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - metabolism; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - pathology; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - surgery; Thyroid Neoplasms - genetics; Thyroid Neoplasms - metabolism; Thyroid Neoplasms - pathology; Thyroid Neoplasms - surgery; Thyroidectomy; 의학일반; Republic of Korea; Estrogen receptor; Progesterone receptor; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Papillary thyroid carcinoma
• ISSN: 1598-2998; 2005-9256; 2005-9256
• DOI: 10.4143/crt.2020.1201

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the rate of expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and β1 (ERβ1), progesterone receptor (PR), and rate of overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in a relatively large cohort of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We also aimed to examine whether each receptor influenced clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of PTC.Materials and Methods We made a microarray of paraffin-embedded PTC surgical tissues from 436 patients. We compared the results of the immunohistochemical staining for each hormone receptor with clinicopathological characteristics.Results The positive expression rate of hormonal receptors was 40.4% for ERα, 83.7% for ERβ1, and 71.3% for PR in patients with PTC. Overexpression of EGFR was shown in 19.3% of patients with PTC. The age was lower (44.6±12.1 years vs. 47.1±12.5 years, p=0.040) and tumor smaller (0.96±0.69 cm vs. 1.13±0.82 cm, p=0.020) in the ERα positive group, which also showed higher PR positivity (80.7% vs. 65.0%, p < 0.001) and overexpression of EGFR (27.3% vs. 13.8%, p < 0.001). However, neither the positivity of hormone receptors nor overexpression of EGFR affected the recurrence of PTC.Conclusion In conclusion, most (94.6%) patients with PTC were found to exhibit positive expression for ERs or PR. We also found that neither the positive expression of hormone receptors nor overexpression of EGFR were associated with the recurrence of PTC.