Chromosomal Abnormalities In Hürthle Cell Tumors Of Thyroid Gland Detected By FISH.
D. Taruscio1, T. Ried2, S. Blanchi3, 1Dept. of Ultrastructures, 1st. Sup. Sanita', Rome, Italy. 2NIH, Bethesda, USA, 3Dept. of Path., Univ. of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Hürthle cell tumors (HCTs) are a subtype of thyroid neoplasms with unpredictableble biologic behavior. Vascular and capsular invasion, as well as the presence of metastases are currently used as criteria of malignancy, whereas no immunohistochemical or other specific markers have been identified. In particular, very little is known about specific chromosomal changes in these tumors. In order to assess the presence of chromosomal aberrations, we studied 10 cases of paraffin-embedded HCTs. We performed FISH experiments: a) on isolated nuclei using a set of 11 centromeric-specific DNA probes, b) by means of comparative genomic hybridization. Cytogenetic changes were observed in most specimens. In particular, capsular and vascular invasion were associated to a high grade of aneuploidy. Our data confirm the association between aneuploidy and tumor invasion.