Combination of inflammatory proteins in serum can be used to diagnose papillary thyroid carcinoma with lymph node metastasis

• DOI: 10.1007/s12672-025-01793-z
• Publication Date: 2025-01-15T15:28:08Z
• Authors: Yongqin Pan; Guanghao Wang; Delin Chen; Zhihui Wu; Yimwing Kei; Mingxi Xu
• Keywords: Lymph node metastasis; Proximity extension assay; Papillary thyroid carcinoma; Research; Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens; Biomarker; RC254-282

Accurately distinguishing lymph node metastases (LNM) from papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) is crucial in clinical practice. The role of the immune system PTC-LNM has attracted increasing attention. aim present study was to evaluate differential expression 92 immune-related proteins serum and identify their potential diagnostic effects patients with PTC-LNM. were analyzed using a proximity extension assay. In addition, logistic regression least absolute shrinkage selection operator methods used develop combined markers for cancer. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis validity. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia Genes Genomes, Set Enrichment Analysis analyze regulatory pathways. Five proteins, including IL-22RA1, IL-12B, CCL4, CCL3, IL-1α, significantly elevated LNM. diagnosis these five demonstrated excellent performance (area under = 0.967, sensitivity 0.941, specificity 0.889). Further revealed that IL12B IL1A mRNAs overexpressed This also showed closely related PI3K-AKT, NF-κB, MAPK signaling combination IL-1α represents promising panel These findings provide novel set based on inflammatory protein levels.