Diagnostic Value of CK19, HBME-1 and TROP2 Biomarkers in Identification of Different Types of Thyroid Follicular Neoplasms

Thyroid malignancies are found in 7% to 15% of all thyroid nodules. Immunohistochemical markers, including CK19, HBME-1and TROP2, have shown an effective role in identifying these malignancies. Hence, due to the lack of appropriate diagnostic tests for the identification of thyroid neoplasms, in this study, we aimed to determine the diagnostic value of these biomarkers in the identification of different types of follicular thyroid neoplasms. In this cross-sectional study, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from the surgical resection of patients with thyroid nodules, referring to Imam Reza and Razavi Hospitals of Mashhad in 2017, were studied. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of these biomarkers for the identification of different types of follicular thyroid neoplasms were also studied. 129 patients with a mean age of 44.65±12.59 years participated in this study, of whom 101 (78.29%) were women. The most common type of follicular thyroid neoplasm was papillary carcinoma (60.47%). The highest sensitivity (94.87%) and positive predictive value (68.51%) in the detection of follicular neoplasms was observed by CK19 in papillary carcinoma. The sensitivity and positive predictive value of TROP2 in the detection of papillary neoplasms was 93.58% and 75.25%, respectively. In addition, HBME-1 had the highest specificity (72.54 %) and positive predictive value (81.57%) in identifying this neoplasm. The results of this study showed that CK19, HBME-1, and TROP2 had high diagnostic value in the detection of papillary thyroid neoplasms. Although these biomarkers had low diagnostic value in identifying follicular adenoma and carcinoma, given the high negative predictive value, they can be considered as powerful markers in identifying negative cases.