Korean J Pathol.  2012 Feb;46(1):55-60. 10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2012.46.1.55.

Detection of Survivin and COX-2 in Thyroid Carcinoma: Anaplastic Carcinoma Shows Overexpression of Nuclear Survivin and Low COX-2 Expression

• Kim YA
• Chang M
• Park YJ
• Kim JE

• KMID: 1439778
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2012.46.1.55

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Overexpression of survivin, a member of the inhibitors of apoptosis protein, has been reported in various carcinomas, and its interaction with cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) results in accelerated tumor progression. The purpose of this study is to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of survivin and COX-2 in benign and malignant thyroid tissues and to define its association with pathologic and clinical features.
METHODS
We examined expression of survivin and COX-2 by immunohistochemistry in 334 benign and malignant thyroid tissues and evaluated their clinical significance.
RESULTS
Expression of survivin showed an increase along the spectrum of thyroid carcinoma progression; rarely positive in adenomatous goiter, moderately positive in papillary carcinoma, and strongly positive in anaplastic carcinoma (AC). Papillary microcarcinoma revealed the highest COX-2 positivity and AC demonstrated the lowest positivity among thyroid cancers. Node negative carcinomas showed higher COX-2 expression than node positive tumors. Survivin expression did not correlate with COX-2.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that survivin overexpression may be related to the pathogenesis of AC and can be a predictor of disease progression. COX-2 may be involved in the early phase of thyroid carcinoma.

Keyword

Thyroid gland; BIRC5 protein, human; Cyclooxygenase 2; Thyroid cancer, anaplastic

MeSH Terms

Apoptosis
Carcinoma
Carcinoma, Papillary
Cyclooxygenase 2
Disease Progression
Goiter
Immunohistochemistry
Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins
Thyroid Gland
Thyroid Neoplasms
Cyclooxygenase 2
Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins
Thyroid Neoplasms