DNA ploidy in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland in children and adolescents

Objective: To evaluate DNA ploidy in papillary thyroid carcinoma in children in correlation to the clinical course of the disease. Methods: Flow cytometric DNA ploidy measurements were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 14 children and 14 adult patients with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland. Analysis of DNA content was performed blind to patient's age and clinical presentation. Results: Seven patients presented with cervical metastasis, one patient had distal metastasis and four patients had local invasion. All patients underwent total thyroidectomy. Seven children underwent bilateral modified neck dissection. Twenty-five tumors expressed diploid DNA content. No statistically significant difference in DNA content was observed between the tumors from child and adult patients. No correlation was found between DNA content and aggressive presentation in the pediatric group. Conclusion: Our primary results indicate that diploid DNA content is common in papillary thyroid carcinoma in children and aggressive clinical presentation is not associated with DNA aneuploidy. Larger prospective studies and long-term clinical follow-up is warranted to document the clinical significance of these observations.