Immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF-C and COX-2 in PTC

Thyroid cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm of the endocrine system. Although it is a relatively rare pathology accounting for approximately 1% of new cases of malignant diseases a trend toward increased incidence has been recognized in various parts of the world. This study analyzed the expression of COX-2 and VEGF-C in patients diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in Goiânia as well as the possible associations between the expression of these markers and the following factors: lymph node metastasis distant metastasis tumor size age extravasation/invasion of adjacent tissues and gender. A total of 165 patients with a confirmed histopathological diagnosis of PTC were evaluated. The results of this study corroborate other studies that have demonstrated the usefulness of COX-2 and VEGF-C proteins in identifying PTC patients at higher risk of disease progression due to their association with the presence of regional lymph node metastases and invasion of adjacent tissue.