An Ep-ICD Based Index Is a Marker of Aggressiveness and Poor Prognosis in Thyroid Carcinoma
Figure 1
Immunohistochemical analysis of EpEx and Ep-ICD expression in papillary thyroid carcinomas and benign tissues.
The representative photomicrographs show immunostaining of EpEx and Ep-ICD in paraffin-embedded thyroid benign nodule goiters, non-aggressive PTC and aggressive PTC tissues. Strong membranous EpEx immunostaining was observed in benign cases (A) and non-aggressive PTC tissues (C); reduced staining of membrane EpEx was observed in aggressive PTC cases (E, G). The benign thyroid nodules and non-aggressive PTC (D) showed predominant cytoplasm localization of Ep-ICD and no detectable nuclear Ep-ICD staining (B, D), while the aggressive PTC cases showed strong nuclear and cytoplasmic Ep-ICD accumulation (F, H). M, membrane staining; C, cytoplasmic staining; N, nuclear staining; Loss of M, loss of membrane expression. Original magnification × 400.