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Review
. 2009 Dec;29(6):290-5.

Thyroid stem cells--danger or resource?

B Gibelli  1 , Ama El-Fattah, G Giugliano, M Proh, E Grosso
Affiliations
Review

Thyroid stem cells--danger or resource?

B Gibelli et al. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2009 Dec.

Abstract
in English, Italian

The thyroid gland has long since been known for its self-renewal ability, mainly in cases of hyperplastic disease such as goitre. Recently the amazing improvement in knowledge about stem cells has explained this potentiality. Some stem cell features and their clinical usefulness are summarized here, reviewing data from the literature: (1) the proven presence of adult stem cells in thyroid tissue, either normal, goitrous or neoplastic, bring with it important implications regarding tissue regeneration and oncogenesis; (2) modifying culture conditions and micro-environment stem cells have led to mature tissue with specialized functions. This has considerably changed the attitude of regenerative medicine and cancer research; (3) finally, identification of stem cells and stem cell markers in thyroid cancer, gives hope for the development of new therapeutic approaches in recurrent or treatment-resistant thyroid cancer.

Da tempo i clinici conoscono le capacità rigenerative del tessuto tiroideo, ma solo recentemente sono state identificate cellule staminali adulte nella tiroide, soprattutto nei pazienti con struma. Alcune sorprendenti potenzialità delle cellule staminali e la loro utilità clinica vengono riassunte attraverso l’analisi di dati della letteratura:

  1. la documentata presenza di cellule staminali adulte nel tessuto tiroideo sano, iperplastico, o neoplastico, ha portato a considerazioni di notevole interesse sulle potenzialità rigenerative e sull’eventuale evoluzione tumorale:

  2. la possibilità di orientare, modificando l’ambiente e le condizioni di coltura, la differenziazione delle cellule staminali verso cellule mature diversamente specializzate crea aspettative importanti nel campo della medicina rigenerativa;

  3. infine l’identificazione di cellule staminali e dei loro marcatori biologici nei carcinomi tiroidei, differenziati, indifferenziati o midollari, apre a nuove ipotesi di terapia per le neoplasie non sensibili ai trattamenti usuali.

Keywords: Stem cells; Thyroid; Thyroid cancer; Tissue repair.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Multi-step pathogenesis of differentiated thyroid cancer.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Stem cell hypothesis for thyroid cancer.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Stem cell and multi-step pathway to thyroid cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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