Expression and Clinical Significance of Golgi Phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the correlation of Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) levels in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) with clinicopathologic features. GOLPH3 expression was determined by western blotting in solid tumors and the adjacent normal thyroid tissues. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Ki-67 were examined by immunohistochemical staining. Significantly higher levels of GOLPH3 protein were observed in PTC and PTMC compared with the adjacent normal thyroid tissues (P<0.001). GOLPH3 level was positively associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage in PTC (P<0.05) and utterly related to the clinical stage in PTMC (P=0.012). No correlation was observed between GOLPH3 level and other clinicopathologic parameters such as sex, local invasion, tumor number, and tumor size. The expression level of GOLPH3 protein in mTOR-positive PTC was significantly higher than in mTOR-negative PTC (P=0.002 in PTC, P=0.022 in PTMC) and positively correlated with Ki-67 proliferation index in PTC via Pearson correlation analysis (r=0.353, P=0.007 in PTC; r=0.583, P<0.001 in PTMC). In conclusion, the relative expression level of GOLPH3 protein was significantly higher in PTC and PTMC than in normal thyroid tissues and increased with cancer severity. It may provide adjunctive information for diagnosing and predicting prognosis in patients with PTC or PTMC.