No abstract

Neurofibromas are a hallmark of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). They are usually benign and rarely present in the thyroid gland region. There is a suspected association between NF1 and intramedullary thyroid carcinoma and there is a well-known association between NF1 and pheochromocytoma. Here, we present a 55-year-old man with typical symptoms of NF1, whose course was complicated by a neurofibroma of the thyroid gland. His clinical spectrum of symptoms included bilateral cataract established before the age of 35 years, quadriparesis and an intrathoracic mass. The patient died because of abdominal carcinomatosis of unknown origin. The rarity of thyroid gland neurofibroma is discussed here, emphasizing the importance of early detection of these and other NF1 complications, also including the risk of malignant transformation with lethal outcome.

Diagnosis is based on ultrasound and fine needle aspiration pathological findings. Screening asymptomatic people as well as those being at normal risk for thyroid cancer is not recommended. "Molecular signatures" consisting of miRNAs could be accounted for as promising diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers for different human malignancies, including thyroid cancer. MicroRNA molecules, being stable in blood and urine, are ideal components of molecular signatures. In this study, we sought to identify a molecular signature that could be used to diagnose papillary thyroid cancer with high sensitivity and specificity. For this purpose, we performed miRNA-seq to identify and quantify miRNAs showing high difference in their expression levels in serum of patients with papillary thyroid cancer and other diseases of thyroid and/or normal population. Validation was performed using real-time PCR. Using this approach, we found eight miRNAs being significantly over-or underexpressed in papillary thyroid cancer tissues compared to their normal counterparts (normal thyroid tissues): miR-144-3p, miR-622, miR-361-5p, miR-146a-3p, miR-340-5p, miR-199a-5p, miR-335-5p, and miR-129-5p. Five out of these eight miRNAs are also significantly over-or under-represented in blood serum of patients with papillary thyroid cancer. In conclusion, our study shows, for the first time, that a molecular signature consisting of miR-144-3p, miR-146a-3p, miR-340-5p, miR-199a-5p and miR-335-5p, is able to diagnose with high sensitivity and specificity papillary thyroid cancer in patients' blood serum.