Analysis of thyroid carcinomas with immunohistochemical panel application: retrospectively study of 52 cases

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to share our cases of thyroid carcinoma with the literature and to emphasize the importance of evaluation with an immunohistochemical panel in cases with difficulty in the differential diagnosis. Background: Thyroid carcinomas are the most common malignant endocrine tumors. Its incidence is 1% among all cancer. They constitute 0.2% of cancer-related deaths. The papillary carcinoma is the most common group with 70-90%. It has the best prognosis. It is diagnosed by the presence of nuclear features such as the appearance of clarification in the core, the inclusion body, and the core like a groove. Follicular carcinoma is the second most common thyroid tumor with 10-15%. In the differential diagnosis of follicular carcinoma, the capsular invasion and vascular invasion are important. Medullary carcinoma constitutes 3-5% of all thyroid carcinomas. Immunohistochemical stains such as calcitonin, CEA, CK7, chromogranin, synaptophysin, and Congo-Red were applied to confirm the diagnosis of medullary carcinoma. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma constitutes 1-2% of all thyroid carcinomas. Cellular pleomorphism in the anaplastic carcinoma is higher than that of other thyroid carcinomas. Results: In this retrospective study, of the 52 thyroid carcinoma cases, 45 (86.6%) were papillary carcinoma, 4 (7.7%) were follicular carcinoma, 2 (3.8%) were anaplastic carcinoma, and 1 (1.9%) was medullary carcinoma. Conclusion: In the diagnosis of thyroid pathologies, mainly cellular properties are determinative. The evaluation with the immunohistochemical panel will reduce the risk of diagnostic error when the cases that difficultly diagnosed with cellular properties.