Thyroglobulin Antibodies and Tumor Epitope-Specific Cellular Immunity
                    in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Stephanie Allelein; Margret Ehlers; Taina Thoma; Katalin Mattes-György; Christina Antke; Eduards Mamlins; Mareike Muchalla; Frederik Giesel; Matthias Schott

doi:10.1055/a-2278-6549

Hormone and Metabolic Research, Table of Contents

Horm Metab Res 2024; 56(06): 424-428
DOI: 10.1055/a-2278-6549

Original Article: Endocrine Care

Thyroglobulin Antibodies and Tumor Epitope-Specific Cellular Immunity in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Authors

Stephanie Allelein‡

¹Division for Specific Endocrinology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Margret Ehlers‡

¹Division for Specific Endocrinology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Taina Thoma

¹Division for Specific Endocrinology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Katalin Mattes-György

²Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Christina Antke

²Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Eduards Mamlins

²Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Mareike Muchalla

¹Division for Specific Endocrinology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Frederik Giesel

²Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
Matthias Schott

¹Division for Specific Endocrinology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany

Abstract

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is characterized by T cell infiltration and frequently by the presence of anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAbs). The role of cellular immunity and of TbAbs in this context is a matter of debate. The aim of our study was to correlate the presence of TgAbs, tumor epitope-specific T cells and the clinical outcome of PTC patients. We studied n=183 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of PTC which were treated with total thyroidectomy plus ¹³¹I ablation. During a follow-up of in mean 97 months, most of the PTC patients had no signs of tumor relapse (n=157 patients). In contrast, one patient had serum Tg levels above the detection limit and<1 ng/ml, two patients Tg serum levels≥1 ng/ml and<2 ng/ml and n=23 patients had Tg serum levels≥2 ng/ml. Morphological signs of tumor recurrence were seen in 14 patients; all of these patients had serum Tg levels≥2 ng/ml. Importantly, with the exception of one patient, all TgAb positive PTC patients (n=27) had no signs of tumor recurrence as the serum Tg levels were below the assays functional sensitivities. Tetramer analyses revealed a higher number of tumor epitope-specific CD8+T cells in TgAb positive patients compared to TgAb negative PTC patients. In summary, we show that the occurrence of TgAbs may have an impact on the clinical outcome in PTC patients. This might be due to a tumor epitope-specific cellular immunity in PTC patients.

Keywords

papillary thyroid carcinoma - thyroglobulin antibodies - antitumor immunity - tetramer analyses

Full Text

References

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