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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2012; 33(02): 107-111
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.99746
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cytokeratin 19 immunoreactivity in the diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Debdas Bose
Department of Pathology, I.P.G.M.E and R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Ram Narayan Das
Department of Pathology, I.P.G.M.E and R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Uttara Chatterjee
Department of Pathology, I.P.G.M.E and R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Uma Banerjee
Department of Pathology, I.P.G.M.E and R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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Abstract

Context: The diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is based on nuclear features. These features may be present in focal areas in benign thyroid diseases and follicular adenoma (FA), leading to diagnostic difficulty. Aims: To evaluate the expression and pattern of the distribution of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) in PTC and compare its reactivity with other neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions to assess its potential as a useful marker for PTC. Materials and Methods: Twenty two cases of papillary carcinoma (usual type, follicular and diffuse sclerosing variant), eight follicular adenomas, eight multinodular goiters (MNG) were collected for a period of two years and six months. Sections were taken from thyroidectomy specimens fixed in 10% buffered neutral formalin. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical staining for CK19 were done using standard protocol. Results were semiquantitatively scored as follows: 1+ (<5% positively stained cells), 2+ (5-25%), 3+ (25-75%) and 4+ (>75%), and then analyzed. Statistical Analysis and Results: All 22 (100%) papillary carcinomas showed diffuse and strong (3+ and 4+) CK19 expression. Six out of eight (75%) FAs and four out of eight (50%) MNG were positive for CK19, but it was of weaker intensity (1+ and 2+) and focal in distribution. Conclusion: Focal CK19 staining may be found in benign disease, but diffuse and strong positivity is characteristic of PTC, which can be used in the diagnosis of PTC in lesions of equivocal morphological appearances.

Keywords

Cytokeratin 19 - papillary thyroid carcinoma - follicular adenoma - multinodular goitre


Publication History

Article published online:
13 April 2022

© 2012. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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