Research conducted through a collaboration between The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of California, San Francisco has found a new linkage between a gene and the risk of thyroid cancer.

This discovery could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Background Information

The American Cancer Society has approximated that there will be an estimate of 52,890 new cases of thyroid cancer in 2021.

The rate of incidence of thyroid cancer has been increasing since the mid-1990s, and it is most common in women with a median age of diagnosis of 50 years old. Research has shown that exposure to radiation and family history are contributing risk factors for the disease.

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck that produces hormones regulating all aspects of human metabolism. Abnormal growth and mutations of the thyroid cells can lead to abnormal hormone production and possible cancer.

The most common type of thyroid cancer is papillary, which accounts for approximately 80 percent of all thyroid cancers.

Research

The research team studied 583 patients with papillary thyroid cancer between the ages of 18 and 80, with 516 of them being women. They also analyzed a control group of 327 people without thyroid cancer.

The team identified variations in the promoter region of the gene VAV3, which plays a role in cell invasion and has been found to be a proto-oncogene in other forms of cancer.

They found that carriers of these genetic variations had an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, with carriers being 1.6 times more likely to develop cancer than those without the variation.

The VAV3 genetic variation was more prevalent in patients who had a history of radiation exposure or who had a family history of thyroid cancer. Other risk factors such as age or sex showed no connection to the genetic variation.

Implications

The discovery of a linkage between the VAV3 gene and thyroid cancer risk could lead to great implications to better understand the disease.

It could provide a way to identify individuals who are at an increased risk for developing the disease, giving them a better chance of early diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, the research could help identify new treatment options for patients with thyroid cancer, including developing targeted therapies that disrupt the VAV3 gene.

However, additional research is necessary to build upon this study’s outcomes and to develop new treatment options for patients with thyroid cancer.

Although these findings show that genetic variations can contribute to an increased risk of thyroid cancer, the exact mechanisms by which these variations lead to the development of papillary thyroid cancer are still unclear.

Conclusion

The discovery of the genetic link between the VAV3 gene and thyroid cancer risk could lead to better diagnoses, treatments, and prevention mechanisms for the disease.

The identification of individuals who are at an increased likelihood of developing thyroid cancer could help doctors and patients take preventative measures, such as increased cancer surveillance, earlier diagnosis, and treatment. The study also highlights the importance of investing in genetic research to identify the underlying mechanisms of cancer development and identify new targeted therapies to improve patient outcomes.