Background: The expression of melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) gene has been studied in many types of cancer. In the present study we evaluated the correlation between MAGE expression and the clinical features and oncologic outcomes of patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
Materials and methods: We performed a retrospective review of 85 patients who underwent surgery for PTC and analysis of their tumor tissue by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with the MAGE common primer to detect the MAGE A1-6 gene. The associations between MAGE expression and clinical characteristics were analyzed.
Results: Expression of MAGE A1-6 in PTC was identified in 31 patients (36.5%). Only papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) was significantly related to MAGE expression in our univariate analysis (p=0.002) and multivariate analysis (p=0.006). MAGE had no significant impact on survival.
Conclusion: Expression of MAGE A1-6 in PTC is significantly correlated with the presence of PTMC. Our study suggests that MAGE expression may be related to early-stage PTC.