Decreased annexin A3 expression correlates with tumor progression in papillary thyroid cancer

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the potential tumor markers that function in carcinogenesis and tumor progression, thus providing important diagnostic and prognostic information.

Experimental design: We performed 2-D gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF MS to investigate the differentially expressed proteins in 25 papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues. For validation of candidate proteins and investigation of clinical significance, we performed Western, Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining.

Results: Our proteomic analyses revealed significantly decreased annexin A3 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma at both the protein and mRNA levels, compared with normal thyroid tissue. ANXA3 immunoreactivity was not significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, multifocality, capsular invasion or perithyroidal extension in thyroid cancer. However, the tumor subgroup with a lymph node metastasis score of >3 displayed significantly lower ANXA3 expression than did subgroups with negative and ≤3 scores (p=0.001). Moreover, ANXA3 expression was markedly lower in large tumors (>1 cm in diameter) than in microcarcinomas (p=0.001).

Conclusion and clinical relevance: Decreased expression of ANXA3 in papillary thyroid cancer supports the idea that ANXA3 may be an effective marker of microcarcinoma, and a negative predictor of papillary thyroid cancer progression.