Biological characteristic and genetic background of pediatric thyroid carcinoma

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25293087
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Human pathology
• Research Institution: University of Yamanashi
• Principal Investigator: KATOH Ryohei 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 教授 (30152755)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KONDO Tetsuo 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 准教授 (30334858) ; NAKAZAWA Tadao 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 准教授 (10345704) ; OISHI Naoki 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 助教 (90623661)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 甲状腺がん / 小児 / 放射線 / 病理 / 遺伝子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We enrolled 81 pediatric patients aged <20 years who received surgery for PTC. The control group included 83 cases of adult PTC from patients >20 years old. Compared with adult PTCs, pediatric PTCs exhibited larger tumor size (p=0.001), more frequent 10 lymph node metastasis (p<0.001) and less classical PTC histology (p=0.001). The prevalence of BRAFV600E mutation in pediatric PTCs was 37% and significantly lower than that（82% ）in adults (p<0.001). The BRAF mutation was positively associated with classical PTC histology (p=0.001) but independent from clinical aggressiveness. TERT promoter mutations were identified in 13% of adults and in none of the pediatric PTCs (p=0.001). In 15 the adult PTCs, In conclusion, we found that pediatric PTCs are characterized by more advanced clinicopathological features, lower frequency of BRAFV600E mutation and complete absence of TERT promoter mutation. The lack of TERT promoter mutation may explain the favorable prognosis of pediatric PTCs.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学