RET gene detection and pathological characteristics of thyroid cancer

ZHANG Xiao-ling; LIU Jin-zhao; XU Juan; XU Meng; MIAO Zhi-gang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8096.2025.03.004

Abstract：Objective To investigate the variation characteristics of RET gene in thyroid cancer patients and its relationship with pathological characteristics.Methods A total of 247 TC patients treated in our hospital from December 2021 to December 2023 were retrospectively selected.All patients underwent fine needle aspiration biopsy(FNAB)and histological detection.FNAB and RET gene detection results were collected,and the relationship between RET gene variation and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed by Logistic regression model.Results Among the 247 thyroid cancer patients,189 were papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC),44 were medullary thyroid carcinoma(MTC),6 were poorly-differentiated thyroid carcinoma,and 8 were follicular thyroid carcinoma.RET gene rearrangement occurred in PTC patients,a total of 39 cases,and the positive rate was 20.63%(39/189);All the patients with gene mutation were MTC,a total of 32 cases,and the positive rate was 72.73%(32/44).The proportion of tumor diameter＞1 cm,multiple lesions,lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis in RET gene rearrangement positive group was significantly higher than that in RET gene rearrangement negative group(P＜0.05).The proportion of tumor diameter＞1 cm,lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis in RET mutation-positive group was significantly higher than that in RET mutation-negative group(P＜0.05).Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that lymph node and distant metastasis were independent predictors of RET gene rearrangement and mutation in thyroid cancer patients(P＜0.05).Conclusions RET gene variation mainly occurs in PTC and MTC patients.RET gene variation is closely related to lymph node and distant metastasis in patients.People with RET gene variation should be identified early in clinical practice,and appropriate targeted therapeutic drugs should be matched to improve the therapeutic effect and prognosis of patients.