Evaluation of Diagnostic Utility of Immunohistochemical Marker Cd56 in the Diagnosis of Thyroid Tumors
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Abstract
Introduction: Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent endocrine malignancy, with papillary carcinoma being the most common type and the follicular variant being the most common subtype. Hematoxylin and eosin staining is the standard method for diagnosing thyroid nodules, but the overlapping morphological features among follicular lesions can make diagnosis challenging. CD56, a neural cell adhesion molecule typically expressed in thyroid follicular cells, is lost or reduced in papillary, follicular, and anaplastic carcinomas. This study aims to assess the diagnostic value of CD56, an immunohistochemical marker, in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid tumors.
Materials & methods: This retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Pathology at a tertiary care hospital in Kancheepuram over a period of one month. The institutional ethical committee approved the study with reference number MMCH & RI IEC/PG/14/MAY/24. Thirty cases of benign and malignant thyroid tumors were analyzed. Following routine histopathological examination, the expression of CD56 was investigated and statistically evaluated.
Results: Statistical significant difference(P<0.05) was found between the malignant thyroid tumors and benign lesions with respect to CD56 expression.
Conclusion: CD56 can be used as a valuable immunohistochemical marker in differentiating malignant thyroid tumours from the benign lesions.