Supplementary Material for: Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Are Independent of Intratumoral Lymphatic Vessel Density
Pereira F.
Pereira S.S.
Mesquita M.
Morais T.
Costa M.M.
Quelhas P.
Lopes C.
Monteiro M.P.
Leite V.
10.6084/m9.figshare.4758349.v1
https://karger.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Supplementary_Material_for_Lymph_Node_Metastases_in_Papillary_and_Medullary_Thyroid_Carcinoma_Are_Independent_of_Intratumoral_Lymphatic_Vessel_Density/4758349
<p><b><i>Background:</i></b> Blood and lymph vessel invasion are
well-recognized markers of tumor aggressiveness, as these are the routes
that lead to metastases. Thyroid tumors, depending on the histological
variant, tend to have distinctive biological behaviors and use different
vascular routes to metastasize, yet the mechanisms underlying the
metastatic process are still poorly understood. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b>
The aim of this study was to assess how the lymph vessel density (LVD)
in different histological types of thyroid tumors, and in their
surrounding tissue, correlate with the presence of lymph node metastases
(LNM) and tumor pathological features. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Lymph vessels of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), of the classical (CVPTC, <i>n</i> = 50) and follicular variants (FVPTC, <i>n</i> = 18), and medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC, <i>n</i>
= 34) were immunohistochemically stained against antigen D2-40. The
stained area was quantified using a computerized morphometric analysis
tool and correlated with the tumor pathological characteristics. <b><i>Results:</i></b> LVD within all analyzed thyroid tumor subtypes was significantly lower than in the surrounding thyroid tissues (<i>p</i>
< 0.001). Despite intratumoral LVD being significantly higher in
CVPTC than in FVPTC, and peritumoral LVD being significantly higher in
MTC than in PTC (<i>p</i> < 0.05), no correlations were found between
LVD (either intratumoral or peritumoral) and the presence of lymph node
metastasis. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> As no LVD differences were found
amongst thyroid tumors with or without LNM, dissemination is more
likely to depend on the tumor ability to invade the abundant lymph
vessel network of the surrounding thyroid tissue than on the ability of
the tumor to promote de novo lymphangiogenesis.</p>
2017-03-16 14:43:34
Thyroid
Papillary carcinoma
Medullary carcinoma
Metastasis
Lymph vessels