The Diagnostic Value of Gene Expression of FHL1 in the Differential Diagnosis of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Benign Tumors

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is the best method for diagnosis of thyroid tumors before surgery and is performed widely for patients; but in about 20% of cases, the test answer is reported as suspicious or intermediate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mRNA expression of gene FHL1 as a tumor marker in differentiating benign and malignant tumors of papillary thyroid carcinoma. 50 patients from Ahvaz hospitals (Iran) with malignant (25 cases) and benign (25 cases) thyroid tumors were enrolled in this study. RNA was extracted from paraffin samples with specific kit and the kit was used for cDNA synthesis. Real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were consisted of 20 micro liters of the reaction mixture containing the fluorescent Cyber Green. The relative mRNA expression of FHL1 gene in the malignant group (0.05%) was significantly lower than that in the benign group (5.29%) (P = 0.019). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the gene has a good performance for differentiation between benign and malignant thyroid tumors, with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.92. Sensitivity and specificity of FHL1 gene expression as a diagnostic test were 84% and 84%, respectively, Gene expression of FHL1 is more efficient to differentiate papillary thyroid carcinoma from benign tumors.