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The expression of two immunosuppressive SIGLEC family molecules in papillary thyroid cancer and their effect on prognosis

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Abstract

Background

The thyroid cancer (THCA) subtype that occurs more frequently is papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Despite a favorable postoperative outcome, traditional antitumor therapy does not offer ideal results for patients with metastasis, relapse, and radioiodine resistance. Recent studies demonstrated the remarkable effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors on solid tumors, of which the immunoglobulin superfamily member SIGLEC10 and SIGLEC15 act as novel immunotherapy targets for tumors. Nevertheless, their role in PTC prognosis is still indefinite.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry was utilized to examine the expression of SIGLEC10 and SIGLEC15 in 244 PTC tissue specimens. Then the expression correlation between the two was analyzed in normal tissues (NT), tumor cells (TC), and tumor stroma (TS), respectively. Subsequently, the retrospective data on patients with PTC were collected to examine whether the two immunosuppressive SIGLEC family members could affect their prognosis.

Results

We confirmed that TC expressed higher levels of SIGLEC10 than NT. However, SIGLEC10 was down-regulated in TS and predicted poor outcomes. Meanwhile, down-regulation of SIGLEC15 expression was observed in both TC and TS, indicating a favorable prognosis. PTC patients with both SIGLEC10-SIGLEC15+ expression in TC and TS had a significantly higher recurrence risk. The expression of SIGLEC10 in TS and SIGLEC15 in TC or TS was an independent predictor of PFS, and a positive correlation was shown between SIGLEC10 and SIGLEC15 expression in TS.

Conclusions

Therefore, our results indicate that SIGLEC10 and SIGLEC15 may be applied as significant prognostic markers for PTC and attractive targets for THCA immunotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Home for Researchers editorial team (www.home-for-researchers.com) for the language editing service. We are also grateful to Professor Long Chen from the Department of Anesthesiology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital for providing guidance in the study design.

Author contributions

M.H.G. conceived and designed the study. T.F.J. and L.Q.G. collected, processed, and validated data. W.W. and X.L. analyzed data and prepared figures. T.F.J. and L.Q.G. drafted the manuscript. M.H.G. revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

Our research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant (Nos. U20A20382).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China

    Tiefeng Jin & Xiang Li

  2. Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Center, Cancer Center, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China

    Tiefeng Jin & Minghua Ge

  3. Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine Center, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China

    Wei Wang

  4. Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China

    Luqi Ge

  5. Key Laboratory of Endocrine Gland Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China

    Minghua Ge

  6. Clinical Research Center for Cancer of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China

    Minghua Ge

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  1. Tiefeng Jin
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Correspondence to Minghua Ge.

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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital. Each patient signed an informed consent form.

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Jin, T., Wang, W., Ge, L. et al. The expression of two immunosuppressive SIGLEC family molecules in papillary thyroid cancer and their effect on prognosis. Endocrine 82, 590–601 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03452-1

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