Analysis of GPER1, CXCR1 and HER-2 Immuno Expression in Follicular Thyroid Lesions and their Possible Role as Diagnostic Markers

Diagnosing thyroid lesions with follicular pattern is difficult in some cases, necessitating immunohistochemical diagnostic aid.High expression of GPER1, CXCR1and HER-2 was associated with metastases and poor survival in many tumors.The aim is to determine the benefit of using these markers alone or in combination in differential diagnosis of follicular-patterned thyroid neoplasms.A retrospective study was conducted on 104 archival paraffin blocks that obtained from pathology department between 2010 and 2016 and divided into; Nodular hyperplasia (n= 53), Thyroiditis (n=13), follicular adenoma FTAs (n=17), papillary carcinoma PTC (n=15) and follicular carcinoma FTC (n=6) patients who underwent thyroidectomy.The expression of the three molecules was higher in FTC (83.3%, 66.7% and 50% respectively) when compared to either FTAs (29.4%, 23.5%, and 5.9% respectively) or PTC (60%, 46.7%, and 13.3% respectively).The differences in their protein expression between non neoplastic and neoplastic thyroid lesions were statistically significant (P < 0.001).Concomitant high expression of any two or all of the three molecules had stronger correlation with the occurrence of FTC, consequently; concomitant high expression should be suggested as a valuable tool in the differentiating thyroid follicular lesions and could be therapeutic targets for treatment and better outcomes.