Search results for "Thyroid cancer"
showing 10 items of 112 documents
Detection of RET rearrangements in papillary thyroid carcinoma using RT-PCR and FISH techniques - A molecular and clinical analysis.
2019
Abstract Introduction Oncogenic BRAF and RAS mutations as well as multiple known (and yet unknown) RET fusion oncogenes comprise the majority of causative molecular alterations in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Apparently “mutation-negative” PTCs encompass a heterogenous group impeding analysis of prognostic significance of underlying genetics. Material and methods BRAF wild type PTC tissue of 56 patients was analyzed using two established methods: hybrid-specific RT-PCR for the predominant rearrangement RET/PTC1 and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Clinical features of the cases with and without RET rearrangement were compared (patient age, gender, tumor size, focality, lymph …
Normal vs cancer thyroid stem cells: the road to transformation
2015
Recent investigations in thyroid carcinogenesis have led to the isolation and characterisation of a subpopulation of stem-like cells, responsible for tumour initiation, progression and metastasis. Nevertheless, the cellular origin of thyroid cancer stem cells (SCs) remains unknown and it is still necessary to define the process and the target population that sustain malignant transformation of tissue-resident SCs or the reprogramming of a more differentiated cell. Here, we will critically discuss new insights into thyroid SCs as a potential source of cancer formation in light of the available information on the oncogenic role of genetic modifications that occur during thyroid cancer develop…
Targeting COPZ1 non-oncogene addiction counteracts the viability of thyroid tumor cells
2017
Abstract Thyroid carcinoma is generally associated with good prognosis, but no effective treatments are currently available for aggressive forms not cured by standard therapy. To find novel therapeutic targets for this tumor type, we had previously performed a siRNA-based functional screening to identify genes essential for sustaining the oncogenic phenotype of thyroid tumor cells, but not required to the same extent for the viability of normal cells (non-oncogene addiction paradigm). Among those, we found the coatomer protein complex ζ1 (COPZ1) gene, which is involved in intracellular traffic, autophagy and lipid homeostasis. In this paper, we investigated the mechanisms through which COPZ…
Thyroid Cancer in the Pediatric Age in Sicily: Influence of the Volcanic Environment.
2017
Background/Aim: Pediatric thyroid cancer (TC) is rare but its incidence is increasing. We analyzed incidence and characteristics of pediatric TC in Sicily and comparatively evaluated data from the volcanic and non-volcanic areas. Materials and Methods: All incident pediatric (0-19 years) TCs in Sicily between 2002-2009 were analyzed for the area of residence and compared to data for adults. Results: A total of 54 differentiated TCs (DTC) and nine medullary TCs were diagnosed in Sicily in children between 2002-2009. DTC age standardized rate for the world population (ASRw) was 0.8/105 in females and 0.2/105 in males, with a higher incidence in the volcanic area (ASRw=1.4/105 in females, 0.5/…
Prognosis and cure of long-term cancer survivors: A population-based estimation.
2019
Background: Increasing evidence of cure for some neoplasms has emerged in recent years. The study aimed to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure. Methods: Information on more than half a million cancer patients aged 15-74 years collected by population-based Italian cancer registries and mixture cure models were used to estimate the life expectancy of fatal tumors (LEFT), proportions of patients with similar death rates of the general population (cure fraction), and time to reach 5-year conditional relative survival (CRS) >90% or 95% (time to cure). Results: Between 1990 and 2000, the median LEFT increased >1 year for breast (from 8.1 to 9.4 years) and prostate cancers (from 5.…
Gene Expression (mRNA) Markers for Differentiating between Malignant and Benign Follicular Thyroid Tumours
2017
Distinguishing between follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) and follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) constitutes a long-standing diagnostic problem resulting in equivocal histopathological diagnoses. There is therefore a need for additional molecular markers. To identify molecular differences between FTC and FTA, we analyzed the gene expression microarray data of 52 follicular neoplasms. We also performed a meta-analysis involving 14 studies employing high throughput methods (365 follicular neoplasms analyzed). Based on these two analyses, we selected 18 genes differentially expressed between FTA and FTC. We validated them by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in an independe…
Serum and urine 1H NMR-based metabolomics in the diagnosis of selected thyroid diseases
2017
AbstractEarly detection of nodular thyroid diseases including thyroid cancer is still primarily based on invasive procedures such as fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Therefore, there is a strong need for development of new diagnostic methods that could provide clinically useful information regarding thyroid nodular lesions in a non-invasive way. In this study we investigated 1H NMR based metabolic profiles of paired urine and blood serum samples, that were obtained from healthy individuals and patients with nodular thyroid diseases. Estimation of predictive potential of metabolites was evaluated using chemometric methods and revealed that both urine and serum carry information sufficient to d…
Changes in life expectancy for cancer patients over time since diagnosis
2019
Highlights • Research question: how cancer impacts on LE changes during patients’ entire life • LE increased in patients surviving the first years and decreasing thereafter. • Patients’ LE in the end approached but seldom reached the general population’s LE. • This method describes when cancer survivors’ excess risk of death became negligible. • Life expectancy indicator is easy to be understood and interpreted by patients.
3D polymeric supports promote the growth and progression of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.
2020
Abstract Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy that accounts for the majority of deaths from all thyroid cancers. ATC exhibits invasiveness and highly resistance to conventional therapies which include cytotoxic chemotherapy, the combination of BRAF and MEK inhibition and, more recently, immunotherapies, that have shown promising but still limited results. A growing knowledge on ATC tumor biology is needed for developing more effective therapies with significant better survival. Researchers have begun to utilize 3D models to culture cancer cells for in vitro studies. In this work, C643 ATC cell line was cultured on polymeric scaffolds with high-interconnecte…
Cancer Stem Cells in Thyroid Tumors: From the Origin to Metastasis
2020
Thyroid tumors are extremely heterogeneous varying from almost benign tumors with good prognosis as papillary or follicular tumors, to the undifferentiated ones with severe prognosis. Recently, several models of thyroid carcinogenesis have been described, mostly hypothesizing a major role of the thyroid cancer stem cell (TCSC) population in both cancer initiation and metastasis formation. However, the cellular origin of TCSC is still incompletely understood. Here, we review the principal epigenetic mechanisms relevant to TCSC origin and maintenance in both well-differentiated and anaplastic thyroid tumors. Specifically, we describe the alterations in DNA methylation, histone modifiers, and …