Correlation between Expression of CCR7, D2-40 and Lymphatic Metastases in Thyroid Carcinoma

Objective To investigate the relationship between expression of CCR7, D2-40 and lymph node metastasis in thyroid carcinoma tissues. Methods The expression of CCR7 and D2-40 were measured in 87 cases of thyroid carcinoma tissues and 20 cases of normal thyroid tissues by MAX Vision immunohistochemical staining technique. The expression of lymphatic endothelial markers D2-40 was applied to calculate lymphatic microvessel density(MLVD). Results CCR7 positive rate was 66.7% in the 87 cases of thyroid carcinoma tissues and CCR7 positive rate was 15% in the 20 cases of normal thyroid tissues; CCR7 positive rates were counted up to 75.0%, 70.0%, 73.0% and 25.0% in PTC, MTC, FTC and UTC, retrospectively; CCR7 positive rate was 81.6%（40⁄49）in lymph node metastasis positive patients and 47.4% (18⁄38) in lymph node metastasis negative patients(P<0.05). MLVD counts in thyroid carcinoma tissues and normal tissues were (5.72±2.89) and (2.60±1.14); MLVD counts in PTC, MTC, FTC and UTC were (7.55±2.29), (6.60±1.75), (4.27±1.10) and (1.00±0.34), respectively; MLVD counts in lymph node metastasis positive patients was obviously higher than that in lymph node metastasis negative patients (9.39±4.24), (3.24±1.67), P<0.05. MLVD expression was positively correlated with CCR7 expression ( r_s=0.645，P<0.001). CCR7 and MLVD were positively related with lymphatic metastasis. The positive rates of CCR7 and MLVD in lymph node-positive group were higher than those in lymph node-negative group. Conclusion D2-40 staining only presents in lymphatic endothelial cells. The united detection of CCR7 along with D2-40 is expected to be the inchoate and more effective signal to judgment lymph node metastases.