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Identifying the tumor-progressive gene expression profile in high-risk papillary thyroid cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is generally associated with a favorable prognosis. However, some patients have fatal disease, with locally infiltrating tumors or progressive distant metastases; yet few studies have investigated the characteristics of the tumor-progressive gene expression profile in advanced PTC. We conducted this study to clarify the gene expression status in advanced PTC and identify candidate molecules for prognostic biomarkers.

Methods

We analyzed 740 tumor-progressive gene expression levels from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks of samples from six patients with low-risk PTC and six patients with high-risk PTC, using the nCounter PanCancer Progression panel. Then, we investigated the association between the expression levels of focused genes and pathological factors in PTC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Results

The expression levels of 14 genes in the high-risk PTC specimens were more than two-fold those in the low-risk PTC specimens. In the TCGA database, expression levels of four genes (CCL11, COL6A3, INHBA, and SRPX2) were significantly higher in patients with advanced PTC. Among the patients with advanced PTC, those with high SRPX2 expression levels had poor disease-free survival. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that high SRPX2 expression was an independent prognostic factor.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study, CCL11, COL6A3, INHBA, and SRPX2 are potential biomarkers that indicate advanced PTC. SRPX2, in particular, is considered a prognostic biomarker.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan

    Masahiro Shibata, Takahiro Inaishi, Takahiro Ichikawa, Ikumi Soeda, Yuko Takano, Dai Takeuchi, Nobuyuki Tsunoda & Toyone Kikumori

  2. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan

    Dai Shimizu

Authors
  1. Masahiro Shibata
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  2. Takahiro Inaishi
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  3. Takahiro Ichikawa
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  4. Dai Shimizu
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  5. Ikumi Soeda
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  6. Yuko Takano
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  8. Nobuyuki Tsunoda
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  9. Toyone Kikumori
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Correspondence to Masahiro Shibata.

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Supplementary Information

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595_2021_2262_MOESM1_ESM.pptx

Supplementary Fig. 1 Association between gene expression levels and pathological stages in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. None of the 11 genes other than CCL11, COL6A3, INHBA, and SRPX2, showed significantly higher expressions in patients with pT4 and pN1. *p < 0.05, ****p < 0.0001, N. S.: not significant (PPTX 160 KB)

Supplementary Table 1 (XLSX 156 KB)

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Shibata, M., Inaishi, T., Ichikawa, T. et al. Identifying the tumor-progressive gene expression profile in high-risk papillary thyroid cancer. Surg Today 51, 1703–1712 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-021-02262-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-021-02262-0

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