BLOOD VESSEL INVASION IN FOLLICULAR CARCINOMA OF THE THYROID, USING THE IMMUNOPEROXIDASE TECHNIQUE FOR FACTOR VIII-RELATED ANTIGEN

Abstract

HE staining, Victoria blue staining and Factor VIII staining were performed and compared in order to precisely check the degree of blood vessel invasion of follicular cacinoma of the thyroid gland.Forty-eight surgical treated cases were reviewed, covering a ten-year span, taken from specimens stored at the First Department of Surgery of Yokohama City University School of Medicine and Ito Hospital. In order to decide what comprises blood vessel invasion, criteria of a cluster of tumor cells present inside vessels and preservation of all the blood vessel endothelium were chosen.When Factor VIII staining was performed, blood vessel invasion was found in 31 of 48 cases (64.6%). With Victoria blue and HE staining, the corresponding figures were 20.8% and 8.3%, respectively neither of which reached the level found with Factor VIII staining.When the relationship between blood vessel invasion and tumor diameter was investigated, in t1 and t2 cases, blood vessel invasion amounted to only slightly less than 50%, whereas in t3 and t4 cases there was more than 80% invasion, the difference being statistically significant. Moreover, there was a significantly higher average age level for patients with blood vessel invasion as compared with those without invasion.