Written by Laura Brown, Jack Williams (Advisor)
The diagnostic utility of immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry is primarily limited to thyroid tumors and thyroid pathology in general. When diagnosing, pathologists and specialists follow precise guidelines, but in the rare instances when they are unable to, cytology plays a critical role. An explanation and analysis of a study named “The Immunocytochemistry Is a Valuable Tool in the Diagnosis of Papillary Thyroid Cancer in FNA’s Using Liquid-Based Cytology” that was published in the Journal of Oncology can be found below.
Instead of employing a smear of cells for diagnosis, liquid-based cytology and thin layer cytology use a suspension of these cells. Using this, a thin layer of cells would be created on a glass slide. Liquid-based cytology is a popular method for screening for cervical cancer and is an attempt to make population screening much faster and more accurate. It has also been demonstrated to reduce the quantity of false-negative outcomes. Extreme cost-effectiveness was demonstrated by the usage of LBC in the UK and Wales, where it was almost 10,000 euros less expensive than regular LYGs.
Since papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most aggressive type of thyroid cancer, it is considered to be the most hazardous. Fine-needle aspiration cytology is the sole diagnostic technique used at this time (FNAC). For the biopsy to obtain a sample of cells that would be utilized to make the diagnosis, a needle had to be inserted through the lump, tumor, or lesion. Even while these are effective in identifying PTC, “the cytomorphological characteristics” of PTC — which are crucial for diagnosis and treatment — are frequently observed in both PTC and other benign tumors. In this case, the use of immunochemistry holds out promise for correctly identifying the cancer.
The smear approach is recommended and frequently used for thyroid cancer diagnosis even though it does not indicate any significant issues. Nuclear grooves, papillary fronds, monolayered sheets of cells, psammoma bodies, multinucleated giant cells, and intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions are among the important characteristics and aspects of a tumor that are presented.Even so, a lot of these characteristics are invisible, and some of them are similar to those of other malignancies. In actuality, a significant number of false negatives are known to be caused by the wide range of follicles in PTC.
In PTC samples, it was discovered that CK-19, Galectin-3, CD-44, and HBME1 compounds were more abundant and reactive, whereas CD-56 and E-cadherin were missing and non-reactive. Galectin-3 served as a “marker for malignancy,” CK-19 assisted in distinguishing between benign and malignant tumors, and CD-44 was discovered to be present in the samples in higher concentrations. G3 and CD-44 were both present in large amounts. Immunochemistry was used in this case to improve PCT diagnosis simplicity and accuracy without being overly complicated.
MCR Committee: Immunology
Sources
Pazaitou-Panayiotou, K., Mygdakos, N., Boglou, K., Kiziridou, A., Chrisoulidou, A., & Destouni, C. (2010). Immunocytochemistry Is a Valuable Tool in the Diagnosis of Papillary Thyroid Cancer in FNA’s Using Liquid-Based Cytology. Journal of oncology, 2010, 963926. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/963926
J Karnon, J Peters, J Platt, J Chilcott, E McGoogan, and N Brewer (2004).Liquid-based cytology in cervical screening: an updated rapid and systematic review and economic analysis, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK62300/