Study of correlation between vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and some prognostic factors in papillary carcinoma of thyroid gland

Background and Objective: Thyroid cancer is the most frequent endocrine malignancy in the world and papillary carcinoma is the most frequent thyroid carcinoma. Different markers used for determination of prognosis and VEGFR is one of them. The aim of present study was to determine the expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR) as a prognostic marker in papillary carcinoma.     Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 92 tissue blocks of papillary carcinoma during the period of 2009-2011 in Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Two tissue sections were prepared. One of them stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin and the other by immunohistochemistry to determine VEGFR expression. Also tumor size and lymph node status was determined. The data analyzed and the p-value of ≤o.o5 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of patients was 39.32± 16.93 years. 40.2% of tumors showed VEGFR expression. 23.9% of patients had lymph node involvement. The average tumor size was 3.6 ± 2.2 cm. No meaningful relationship was observed between VEGFR expression and sex and age of patients and the size of tumor. However, there was a direct significant relationship between the absence of VEGFR expression and uninvolvement of lymph nodes. Conclusion: It seems that reduction in VEGFR expression in papillary carcinoma resulting in reduced numbers of involved lymph node and better prognosis. More complete studies in this field with patient follow up is recommended.