Expression and clinical significance of C-erbB-2 in thyroid carcinomas

Objective To detect the expression and clinical significance of C-erbB-2 in thyroid carcinomas.Methods The expression of C-erbB-2 was examined by S-P immunohistochemical technique method in 30 cases of thyroid carcinomas and 20 cases of thyroid benign disease.Results Positive expression rates of C-erbB-2 protein in thyroid adenomas,nodular goitre,thyroid carcinoma,thyroid carcinoma with lymphatic metastasis,thyroid carcinoma without lymphatic metastasis were 0%,0%,66.7%,83.3%,41.7% respectively.The comparison between thyroid benign disease and thyroid carcinoma showed statistically significant difference(P0.001),the positive rate in thyroid carcinoma with lymphatic metastasis was statistically higher than that without lymphatic metastasis(P0.05).Conclusion The data suggest that the examination of C-erbB-2 is of value in differential diagnosis of benign or malignant thyroid disease lesions.C-erbB-2 may be used as an important marker for the assessment of biological behavior of thyroid carcinoma.