Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify differences between thyroid carcinomas associated with Graves' disease (BCa group) and not associated with (PCa group), both clinically, and immunohistologically. We operated on 210 PCa and 11 BCa patients between 1982 and 1996. We investigated tumors, lymphnode metastasis, and extra thyroidal invasion as clinical prognostic factors, and also measured the positive rate of PCNA, and positivity for c-Fos, and c-Myc immunohistologically. From the study, it became evident that the BCa group, compared with the PCa group, had smaller but mutifocal cancer, occasional lymphnode metastasis, and no recurrence even in the advanced cases.
In the immunohistological study, high PCNA positive rates and frequent appearance of c-Fos and c-Myc were seen in Graves' disease patients, and intererestingly, these findings were more obvious in the cancer part of BCa. These results suggest that the icreased proliferating activity associated with Graves' disease plays a role in multifocal carcinogenesis of the thyroid in the BCa group.
