TY - JOUR
T1 - Fetal cell microchimerism in papillary thyroid cancer
T2 - A role in the outcome of the disease
AU - Cirello, Valentina
AU - Colombo, Carla
AU - Perrino, Michela
AU - De Leo, Simone
AU - Muzza, Marina
AU - Maffini, Maria Antonia
AU - Fugazzola, Laura
PY - 2015/12/15
Y1 - 2015/12/15
N2 - Fetal cell microchimerism (FCM) is defined as the persistence of fetal cells in maternal organs and circulation without any apparent rejection and it was hypothesized to protect toward the onset of some neoplastic diseases. To verify the role of FCM in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), we enrolled 87 parous women with PTC and at least one male pregnancy preceding the diagnosis (PTC-P), 66 healthy women with 1 or more male children (HC-P) and 57 nonparous women with PTC (PTC-NP). The presence of circulating male DNA was assessed by the amplification of the Y chromosome-specific gene SRY, with a sensitivity of 1 male cell/1 million female cells. A significantly higher frequency of FCM was found in HC-P than PTC-P women (63.6% vs. 39.1%, p=0.004). Among PTC-P patients, those positive for the presence of FCM (FMC+ve) had a lower prevalence of extrathyroidal extension (p=0.027) and lymph node metastases (p=0.044) than those without FCM (FMC-ve). Moreover, FMC+ve patients were more frequently in remission than FMC-ve cases (94.1 vs. 67.9%, p=0.009). Interestingly, we showed for the first time that the positive effect on tumor presentation and outcome is specifically related to FCM and it is not an effect of pregnancy. In conclusion, circulating FCM is significantly more frequent in healthy parous women than in women with PTC. Moreover, the presence of circulating fetal male cells is associated with a significantly lower extrathyroidal extension and a good prognosis, suggesting a protective role of this phenomenon toward both the onset and the progression of thyroid cancer.
AB - Fetal cell microchimerism (FCM) is defined as the persistence of fetal cells in maternal organs and circulation without any apparent rejection and it was hypothesized to protect toward the onset of some neoplastic diseases. To verify the role of FCM in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), we enrolled 87 parous women with PTC and at least one male pregnancy preceding the diagnosis (PTC-P), 66 healthy women with 1 or more male children (HC-P) and 57 nonparous women with PTC (PTC-NP). The presence of circulating male DNA was assessed by the amplification of the Y chromosome-specific gene SRY, with a sensitivity of 1 male cell/1 million female cells. A significantly higher frequency of FCM was found in HC-P than PTC-P women (63.6% vs. 39.1%, p=0.004). Among PTC-P patients, those positive for the presence of FCM (FMC+ve) had a lower prevalence of extrathyroidal extension (p=0.027) and lymph node metastases (p=0.044) than those without FCM (FMC-ve). Moreover, FMC+ve patients were more frequently in remission than FMC-ve cases (94.1 vs. 67.9%, p=0.009). Interestingly, we showed for the first time that the positive effect on tumor presentation and outcome is specifically related to FCM and it is not an effect of pregnancy. In conclusion, circulating FCM is significantly more frequent in healthy parous women than in women with PTC. Moreover, the presence of circulating fetal male cells is associated with a significantly lower extrathyroidal extension and a good prognosis, suggesting a protective role of this phenomenon toward both the onset and the progression of thyroid cancer.
KW - microchimerism
KW - pregnancy
KW - thyroid cancer
KW - women
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U2 - 10.1002/ijc.29653
DO - 10.1002/ijc.29653
M3 - Article
C2 - 26105768
AN - SCOPUS:84943658925
VL - 137
SP - 2989
EP - 2993
JO - International Journal of Cancer
JF - International Journal of Cancer
SN - 0020-7136
IS - 12
ER -