Foxp3 expression is associated with aggressiveness in differentiated thyroid carcinomas

OBJECTIVES:

Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) expression has been observed in human cancer cells but has not yet been reported in thyroid cells. We investigated the prognostic significance of both FoxP3 expression and intratumoral FoxP3⁺ lymphocyte infiltration in differentiated thyroid carcinoma cells.

METHODS:

We constructed a tissue microarray with 385 thyroid tissues, including 266 malignant tissues (from 253 papillary thyroid carcinomas and 13 follicular carcinomas), 114 benign lesions, and 5 normal thyroid tissues.

RESULTS:

We determined the expression of FoxP3 in both tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes using immunohistochemical techniques. Cellular expression of FoxP3 was evident in 71% of benign and 91.9% of malignant tissues. The nuclear and cytoplasmic expression patterns were quantified separately. A multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that cytoplasmic FoxP3 expression is an independent risk factor for thyroid malignancy. Cytoplasmic FoxP3 staining was inversely correlated with patient age. Nuclear FoxP3 staining was more intense in younger patients and in tumors presenting with metastasis at diagnosis. FoxP3⁺ lymphocytes were more frequent in tumors smaller than 2 cm, those without extrathyroidal invasion, and in patients with concurrent chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis.

CONCLUSIONS:

We demonstrated FoxP3 expression in differentiated thyroid carcinoma cells and found evidence that this expression may exert an important influence on several features of tumor aggressiveness.