Expression and significance of ER and PR in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Objective To determine the expression of ER and PR in human papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC),and to explore their correlation with the clinical features of thyroid carcinoma.MethodsTaking 69 samples of fresh papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) and 7 samples of nodular goiter from surgery,the expression of ER and PR was detected in human papillary thyroid carcinoma by immunohistochemistry.And the correlation of the expression of ER / PR and the biological characteristics of tumor was analyzed.Results In PTC samples,ER and PR immunoreactivity were detected for 52.17% and 46.38%,respectively.No ER nor PR expressed in nodular goiter.The expression of ER and PR was not related with sex,tumor size and tumor grade malignancy,but the expression of PR was positively correlated with capsular invasion and lymph nodes metastasis(P0.05),the expression of ER was negatively correlated with age.Conclusion The expression of ER and PR was higher in PTC than nodular goiter.The expression of PR in PTC may be a sign of capsular invasion and lymph nodes metastasis,the expression of ER decreased as the patients grew older.