Gene expression markers differentiating between malignant and benign follicular thyroid tumors

Differential diagnosis between malignant follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) and benign follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) is a great challenge for even an experienced pathologist and requires special effort. Molecular markers may potentially support a differential diagnosis between FTC and FTA in postoperative specimens. The purpose of this study was to derive molecular support for the differential diagnosis, in the form of a simple multigene mRNA-based classifier that would differentiate between FTC and FTA tissue samples. Gene expression profiling was performed in 27 follicular thyroid cancers and 25 follicular thyroid adenomas.