Expression and significance of ERβ and surviving in thyroid tumors

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of the estrogen receptor beta isoforms and survivin in thyroid tumors. Methods The pathological data of 125 patients with thyroid tumors were, collected from june 2003 to june 2007 in our institution, including thyroid carcinoma (86 cases), thyroid follicular adenoma (39 cases) and normal thyroid tissue (10cases). SP immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expressions of ERβ and survivin in the thyroid tumors. Results ERβ not only was detected in the thyroid epithelial cell plasma and nuclear, but also in the stroma. The positive rate of ERβ in cases with thyroid carcinoma, adenoma and normal thyroid tissue were 83.72 %, 51.28 % and 20.00 % respectively. There was significant difference between carcinoma and the adenoma or normal thyroid tissue (P<0.05). The positive rate of survivin in cases with carcinoma, adenoma and normal thyroid tissue were 59.30 %, 17.95 % and 0 respectively. There was significant difference between carcinoma and the adenoma or normal thyroid tissue (P<0.05). The expressions of ERβ and survivin correlated with TNM staging and lymph node metastasis of thyroid carcinoma (P<0.05). Conclusion ERβ may play a role in accelerating proliferation in the occurrence of the thyroid carcinoma. The expressions of ERβ and survivin are related to invasion and metastasis of thyroid carcinoma. Key words: Thyroid tumors; Estrogen reeeptorbeta; Survivin; Immunohistochemistry