Expression of activator protein-1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma and its clinical significance.

BACKGROUND: The abnormal expression of activator protein-1(AP-1) has recently been investigated in a variety of tumors. While the relationship between AP-1 and thyroid cancer is poorly studied, our study was to evaluate the protein expression and clinical value of AP-1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

METHODS: The expression of AP-1 was examined by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded tissues obtained from PTC and correspondent paracancerous tissues of 82 patients.

RESULTS: Compared with paracancerous tissues, AP-1 expression was significantly elevated in PTC tissues and the positive rate was 79.3% (65/82). Our study found a linear trend relationship between the expression of AP-1 and tumor size. However, the differences in AP-1 expression among gender, age, lymph node metastasis, number of lesions, location of the lesion, and extrathyroid invasion are not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: The expression of AP-1 plays an important role in the proliferation process of PTC.