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Currently, fine-needle aspiration is the most frequently used pre-operative technique for diagnosis of malignant thyroid tumors, however, pathologists are unable to reach efficient and accurate differential diagnoses between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. To aid in resolving this issue, immunohistochemistry for galectins (gal)-1, -3, -7, -8, cytokeratin 19 (CK19), Hector Battifora Mesothelial Epitope-1 (HBME-1) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO) was performed on two tissue microarrays composed of 66 follicular adenomas (FA) and 66 papillary carcinomas (PC). The identification of optimal cut-off levels and the diagnostic value of single immunomarkers or combinations were evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Signal intensities for gal-1, gal-3, CK19 and HBME-1 were significantly greater in PC compared with FA (P<0.001). Conversely, expression levels of TPO were significantly increased in FA compared with PC (P<0.001). Gal-3 and CK19 appeared to be the most sensitive markers (97 and 98%, respectively), whereas galectin-1 was the most specific (97%). The combination of gal-3, CK19 and HBME-1 acted as the most efficient and informative marker panel reaching the greatest specificity (97%) and sensitivity (95%) for the diagnosis of PCs. The findings suggest that this combination of markers may improve the reliability of diagnosis of thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was originally identified in 1966 by Bloom and Bennett as a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in the inhibition of macrophage motility. Since then, studies have investigated the functional contribution of this pro-inflammatory cytokine in several immune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematous. Recently, MIF has been reported to be involved in a variety of neoplastic diseases. The present review discusses previous cancer research studies that have investigated the involvement of MIF in carcinogenesis, disease prognosis, tumor cell proliferation and invasion, and tumor-induced angiogenesis. Finally, potential therapeutic approaches based on the use of MIF antagonists and neutralizing antibodies are examined. The review concludes that MIF could be a good prognostic biomarker in several types of cancer, but also that the inhibition of MIF could represent a novel therapy against cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]