Osteopontin Levels in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer According to the Presence of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

Abstract

Background: Human papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is often associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT); their coexistence improves PTC prognosis. Osteopontin, a secreted glycoprotein, plays a role in cell survival, immunity, and tumor progression, its expression being associated with a poor prognosis and metastasis in several malignancies. Osteopontin overexpression correlates with aggressive clinicopathological features in PTC. Lymph node metastases and large tumor size positively correlate with osteopontin positivity. This study aimed to: (1) confirm osteopontin overexpression in human PTC samples; (2) compare osteopontin expression levels in PTC cases with and without HT; and (3) identify correlations between tumor aggressiveness and osteopontin expression levels. Materials and Methods: Plasma osteopontin was assessed in 45 patients with PTC, 22 patients with PTC and HT, and 24 healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Thyroid tissue osteopontin mRNA and protein levels were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively. Results: Plasma osteopontin levels were significantly higher in PTC patients than in healthy controls. Plasma osteopontin, tissue osteopontin mRNA, and tissue osteopontin protein levels were significantly lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone. In advanced disease stage cases, osteopontin mRNA and protein expression levels were lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone. However, the osteopontin expression level was not significantly associated with the TNM stage. Conclusions: Plasma osteopontin, tissue osteopontin mRNA, and tissue osteopontin protein levels were significantly lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone, suggesting that HT attenuates PTC aggressiveness through negative regulation of osteopontin expression.

The Inflammation of Preexisting Autoimmunity in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a Factor for Malignancy in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

“…The relationship between in ammation and cancer is well known from other disease mechanisms. Hepatitis and liver cancer are induced by hepatitis B. RET/PTC gene rearrangement has been observed in the follicular cells of patients with PTC and HT and may be an early in ammation or tumor progression change in patients with PTC and HT [21]. In ammation-related factors such as HMBG1 and TNF-α were found in patients with thyroiditis and PTC [22].…”

Serum osteopontin can improve papillary thyroid cancer risk assessment of Bethesda III thyroid nodules: a preliminary study

“…In a study, Park et al found that plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in PTC patients than in healthy controls. They also found that plasma OPN, tissue OPN mRNA, and tissue OPN protein levels were significantly lower in patients with PTC and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) than in those with PTC alone (Park et al, 2015). However, the association between thyroiditis and OPN is controversial.…”

“…It is also involved in the pathophysiology of liver fibrosis, atherosclerosis, and cancer ( Coombes et al 2016 , Ding et al 2016 ). Elevated OPN expression was found in many cancers and papillary thyroid cancer ( Bramwell 2006 , Le 2006 , Likui et al 2010 , Park et al 2015 , Ferreira et al 2016 , Wang et al 2018 , Zhang et al 2020 ). In this study, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic and clinical role of serum osteopontin levels in patients who underwent thyroid surgery due to cytologic results repeatedly showing AUS.…”

Osteopontin Expression in Thyroid Cancer: Deciphering EMT-Related Molecular Mechanisms

“…Furthermore, papillary thyroid cancer samples harboring the -443C>T polymorphism in the OPN promoter region are associated with higher papillary thyroid cancer risk and presented higher OPN levels than in tissues lacking this genotype [77]. Park et al [85] also described OPN high levels in papillary thyroid carcinomas, which were significantly associated with advanced tumor stages. When the papillary type was combined with the occurrence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, OPN plasma levels and tissue expression were decreased compared to the results found in papillary cancer alone.…”