Hereditary and familial thyroid tumours

A Nationwide Cohort Study on the risk of non-gynecological cancers in women with surgically verified endometriosis

We assessed the association of surgically verified endometriosis and risk of non-gynecological cancers according to the type of endometriosis (i.e., ovarian, peritoneal and deep infiltrating endometriosis). All diagnoses of endometriosis combined with relevant procedural codes were identified from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register 1987-2012. Non-gynecological cancers diagnosed after the endometriosis diagnosis were obtained from the Finnish Cancer Registry. The cohort of 49,933 women with surgically verified endometriosis and the sub-cohorts of ovarian (n = 23,210), peritoneal (n = 20,187), and deep infiltrating (n = 2,372) endometriosis were analyzed separately. The endometriosis cohort contributed 838,685 person-years of follow-up and the Finnish female population served as the reference cohort. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was calculated for each cancer separately. The follow-up ended at emigration, death or on the 31st of December 2014. The non-gynecological cancer risk was not increased among women with endometriosis (SIR 1.03, 95%CI 0.98-1.08). Endometriosis was associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer in the entire cohort (SIR 1.43, 95%CI 1.23-1.64) and in the sub-cohorts of ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis. We found a decreased risk of mouth and pharynx cancer (SIR 0.60, 95%CI 0.41-0.80), and of pancreatic cancer (SIR 0.76, 95%CI 0.58-0.96). The incidence of basal cell carcinoma was elevated in the entire cohort (SIR 1.18, 95%CI 1.10-1.25) and in the sub-cohorts of ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis. In conclusion, women with surgically verified endometriosis have an altered risk of only few non-gynecological cancers.

Whole exome and target sequencing identifies MAP2K5 as novel susceptibility gene for familial non-medullary thyroid carcinoma

Although the genotype-phenotype for familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) is well studied, only few low susceptibility risk loci were identified for familial non-medullary thyroid carcinoma (FNMTC). The aim of this study is to screen and identify high-penetrate genes for FNMTC. A total of 34 families with more than two first-degree relatives diagnosed as papillary thyroid cancer without other familial syndrome were recruited. Whole exome and target gene sequencing were performed for candidate variants. These variants were screened and analyzed with ESP6500, ExAC, 1000 genomes project, and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with SIFT score and Polyphen2 prediction. Finally, we identified recurrent genetic mutation of MAP2K5 variants c.G961A and c.T1100C (p. A321T and p.M367 T) as susceptibility loci for FNMTC. The frequencies of MAP2K5 c.G961A and c.T1100C were found, 0.0385 and 0.0259 in FNMTC and 0 and 0.00022523 in healthy Chinese controls (n = 2200, P < 0.001), respectively. Both variants were located in the protein kinase domain. The functional study showed that MAP2K5 A321T or M367 T could consistently phosphorylate downstream protein ERK5 on site Ser731 + Thr733 or Ser496, promoting nuclear translocation and subsequently altering target gene expressions. Our data revealed that MAP2K5 variants A321T or M367 T can activate MAP2K5-ERK5 pathway, alter downstream gene expression, and subsequently induce thyroid epithelial cell malignant transformation. While classic MAP2K1/2(MEK1/2)-ERK1/2 signaling is well known for driving sporadic NMTC, our research indicated that MAP2K5 (MEK5) is a susceptibility gene for FNMTC. These findings highlight the potential application of MAP2K5 for molecular diagnosis as well as early prevention.

Thyroid cancer in adolescents and young adults

In adolescents and young adults, thyroid cancer accounts for 13% of all invasive neoplasms, being three times more frequent in females, but overdiagnosis and overtreatment are common. There are two therapeutic approaches, one radical and no longer preferred in all instances, and the other conservative. Permanent complications of surgery and metabolic irradiation can affect quality of life and carry an economic burden. The overall survival rate approaches 100% for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer regardless of the extent of treatment. Medullary thyroid carcinoma is a very different entity, occurring most frequently in the context of hereditary tumor susceptibility syndromes.

RETRACTED: MicroRNA-361-5p inhibits papillary thyroid carcinoma progression by targeting ROCK1

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Authors and Editor-in-Chief. The authors notified the journal and requested retraction of the article, stating: “We recently found that miR-361 did not affect the tumor growth in vivo. All the authors want to retract this paper. Furthermore, we apologize to the readership of the Journal for any inconvenience caused”. The journal was also alerted to an associated PubPeer post, in which images of xenograft tumors within Figure 6B, and images of colony formation assays within Figure 2C, appear to have been published in other articles, as detailed here: https://pubpeer.com/publications/0DA940799BE0D567BAC4659CDAB13F#. The journal requested the corresponding author provide a more detailed explanation to these concerns and associated raw data, but this request was not satisfactorily fulfilled. The Editor-in-Chief assessed the case and decided to retract the article.

Mutant MYO1F alters the mitochondrial network and induces tumor proliferation in thyroid cancer

Familial aggregation is a significant risk factor for the development of thyroid cancer and familial non-medullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC) accounts for 5-7% of all NMTC. Whole exome sequencing analysis in the family affected by FNMTC with oncocytic features where our group previously identified a predisposing locus on chromosome 19p13.2, revealed a novel heterozygous mutation (c.400G > A, NM_012335; p.Gly134Ser) in exon 5 of MYO1F, mapping to the linkage locus. In the thyroid FRTL-5 cell model stably expressing the mutant MYO1F p.Gly134Ser protein, we observed an altered mitochondrial network, with increased mitochondrial mass and a significant increase in both intracellular and extracellular reactive oxygen species, compared to cells expressing the wild-type (wt) protein or carrying the empty vector. The mutation conferred a significant advantage in colony formation, invasion and anchorage-independent growth. These data were corroborated by in vivo studies in zebrafish, since we demonstrated that the mutant MYO1F p.Gly134Ser, when overexpressed, can induce proliferation in whole vertebrate embryos, compared to the wt one. MYO1F screening in additional 192 FNMTC families identified another variant in exon 7, which leads to exon skipping, and is predicted to alter the ATP-binding domain in MYO1F. Our study identified for the first time a role for MYO1F in NMTC.