CLINICAL VALUE OF GALECTIN-3 IN DIFFERENTIATING PAPILLARY THYROID CANCER FROM NODULAR GOITER

Abstract

"Introduction: Thyroid cancer in one of the most common cancers worldwide, with an increasing incidence over the last decades. Serum Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is used as biomarker in different types of cancer (gastric, hepatic), but its utility in papillary thyroid cancer differential diagnostic in still inconclusive. Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the diagnostic value of preoperative serum Galectin-3 levels in differentiating between papillary thyroid cancer and nodular goiter. Methods: 277 of serum samples from patients with thyroid lesions were divided into two subgroups: nodular goiter (NG; n = 121) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC; n = 136). Serum Gal-3 levels were measured before surgery for the entire group, and for 62 patients (33 NG, 29 PTC) it was measured a month post-surgery. Gal-3 was measured by ELISA, using Human Galectin-3 Quantikinine ELISA kit (R&D Systems) and statistical analysis were performed using MedCalc Software. All paticipants signed the written informed consent and the study was approved by the Ethics Commitee of the C.I. Parhon National Institute of Endocrinology, Bucharest. Results: Circulating Gal-3 values show that this biomarker has a higher value in PTC patients compared with NG patients (7.17 ng/ml vs. 8.285 ng/ml, p = 0.0038), before thyroidectomy. There were not observed significant statistical correlations between serum Gal-3 values and histological subtype, focality, invasivity or dominant nodule dimension. Conclusion: Our results regarding Gal-3 values show that this biomarker has a higher value in PTC patients compared with NG patients, but its clinical value in preoperative diagnosis and evaluation of thyroid nodules needs further investigations. Keywords: thyroid cancer, papillary thyroid carcinoma, galectin-3"