The diagnostic and prognostic value of vascularization in papillary thyroid microcarcinomas

Abstract

Aim. Variety of clinical behavior of the thyroid microcarcinomas (PTM) is the reason for searching for the morphologic features of aggressive disease course. Methods and results. In 22 cases of PTM immunohistochemical examination of CD34 and VEGF expression was performed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of vascularization. The association between high level expression of VEGF, microvessels density and morphological features such as tumor invasion, desmoplastic stromal reaction, disorder of connective tissue maturation was revealed. The relationship between high levels of vascularization and TNM stage of disease, lymph node metastasis, extrathyroid invasion was not found. Conclusion. Results indicate that the vascularization is a sign of growth and progression of microcarcinomas and it is not a significant predictor of the disease.

Keywords

• Papillary
• Carcinoma
• Thyroid Neoplasms
• Immunohistochemistry