Research of phoenixin and dynorphin expressions in thyroid cancer tissues

Thyroid cancer is one of the main public health problems faced by humankind frequently. Early diagnosis is life-saving similar to other diseases. Several peptide molecules play a role in the etiopathogenesis of thyroid cancers. Dynorphin (DYN) and phoenixin (PNX) are peptide-structured molecules. Until today it has not been investigated whether these two molecules have a role in thyroid cancer. This study aims to reveal how dynorphin and phoenixin expressions changed in between control group and papillary, folicular, medullary, anaplasctic thyroid cancer groups and Hashimoto's thyroiditis by immunohistochemistry and ELISA method. In this study, 124 samples were used which removed from patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (n: 52), papillary thyroid carcinoma (n: 33), follicular thyroid carcinoma (n: 20), medullary thyroid carcinoma (n: 11), anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (n: 8). The healthy thyroid parts of these samples were selected and the control group (n: 23) was formed. PNX and DYN levels in a total of 141 thyroid samples were examined immunohistochemically and by ELISA method. PNX and DYN were immunopositive in the cytoplasm of thyroid follicle epithelial cells. Statistically, there were a decrease in PNX-14 level and a significant increase in DYN level in anaplastic thyroid cancer. It is clear that this remarkable finding observed in thyroid cancers may contribute as a fundamental differantial factor, especially in anaplastic thyroid cancer. In other words, this finding distinguishes anaplastic thyroid cancer from other groups. The result of our study have shown that these findings may be helpful in the early diagnosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer in the future.