To investigate whether the oxidative stress is involved in the evolution of Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) into Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and cancer related proteins (Bcl-2, p53 and Ki-67) expressions were evaluated in these pathologies.
The k-ras mutations occurred in the cases with DLBL with RER, and four of five cases with RER had a k-ras mutation, indicating a close association between RER and k-ras mutation. p53 mutations were not found in the CLTH.
Very occasional centroblasts in reactive germinal centres were positive for p53, but all other lymphoid cells from cases of Hashimoto's disease were negative forp53.