Oncofetal fibronectin (onfFN) and galectin-3 (Gale-3) have been proposed as possible tools for the preoperative diagnosis of @entity259 , based on the finding that the expression of both onfFN and Gale-3 are significantly increased in @entity1377 , compared to normal thyroid tissues and @entity652 . In this study we analyzed the expression of these markers by immunochemical and molecular analysis of benign and @entity5 . Sixty-five thyroid nodules, consisting of 20 @entity652 ( @entity652 ) and 45 @entity3557 ( @entity3557 ) at final histology were examined. At the molecular level, among the 45 @entity3557 , 44 (97.8%) showed a variable level of onfFN mRNA, while 8 of the 20 (40%) @entity652 expressed the same marker. Similar results have been found analyzing Gale-3 expression: 97.8% of @entity3557 and 55% of @entity652 were positive for this marker. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for Gale-3 was positive in 42 of 45 (93.3%) @entity3557 tissues. Staining was invariably confined to the cytoplasm, with a homogeneous distribution in the large majority of the neoplastic cells. The 3 negative cases (6.7%) were represented by 2 classic variants of @entity3557 and 1 follicular variant of @entity3557 . Eighteen of the 20 (90.0%) @entity652 stained negative for Gale-3. A significant association was found between positive staining and malignant phenotype (p < 0.0001). Gale-3 protein expression was also performed on samples obtained by ex vivo fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in 35 @entity3557 by immunocytochemistry (ICC). Immunoreactivity was present in 32 (91.0%) and negative in 3 (8.8%) cases. With the exception of 1 case (negative by ICC and positive by IHC), ICC and IHC were fully concordant. In conclusion, our results indicate that a search for Gale-3 protein overexpression by IIC or ICC, but not by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), may yield an additional marker of malignant potential of thyroid nodular lesions, and may be a useful adjunct to the currently available diagnostic tools for the preoperative diagnosis of @entity5 .

Galectin-3 and oncofetal-fibronectin expression in thyroid XXXX as assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunochemistry in cytologic and pathologic specimens.

@entity3557 :: ('MESH:C536915', 'Disease') :: ['papillary thyroid carcinomas', 'PTC', 'PTCs'] @entity1377 :: ('MESH:D002291', 'Disease') :: ['papillary and anaplastic carcinomas'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['malignant thyroid tumors'] @entity652 :: ('MESH:D000236', 'Disease') :: ['follicular adenomas', 'adenomas', 'FAs'] @entity259 :: ('MESH:D013964', 'Disease') :: ['thyroid carcinomas']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['neoplasia']
