Morphometric lightmicroscopic and immunohistochemical analyses of differentiated thyroid carcinomas.

Twenty-four differentiated human thyroid carcinomas were investigated light microscopically and immunohistochemically by morphometric methods. The study revealed that thyroglobulin synthesis in follicular and papillary carcinomas is independent of tumor type and histostructural differentiation. The immunohistochemical results suggest that a defect in thyroglobulin synthesis and thyroglobulin secretion in addition to iodine accumulation and organification defects impairs the effectiveness of postoperative radioiodine treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]