Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is characterized by T cell infiltration and
frequently by the presence of anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAbs). The role of
cellular immunity and of TbAbs in this context is a matter of debate. The aim of
our study was to correlate the presence of TgAbs, tumor epitope-specific T cells
and the clinical outcome of PTC patients. We studied n=183 consecutive patients
with a diagnosis of PTC which were treated with total thyroidectomy plus
131I ablation. During a follow-up of in mean 97 months, most of
the PTC patients had no signs of tumor relapse (n=157 patients). In contrast,
one patient had serum Tg levels above the detection limit and<1 ng/ml, two
patients Tg serum levels≥1 ng/ml and<2 ng/ml and n=23 patients had Tg serum
levels≥2 ng/ml. Morphological signs of tumor recurrence were seen in 14
patients; all of these patients had serum Tg levels≥2 ng/ml. Importantly, with
the exception of one patient, all TgAb positive PTC patients (n=27) had no signs
of tumor recurrence as the serum Tg levels were below the assays functional
sensitivities. Tetramer analyses revealed a higher number of tumor
epitope-specific CD8+T cells in TgAb positive patients compared to TgAb negative
PTC patients. In summary, we show that the occurrence of TgAbs may have an
impact on the clinical outcome in PTC patients. This might be due to a tumor
epitope-specific cellular immunity in PTC patients.
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