E. Dillwyn Williams

The WHO histological classification of thyroid tumors: a commentary on the second edition.

This article introduces the revised WHO classification of thyroid tumors, giving an account of the major changes made and the reasons behind the changes, as well as listing the actual classification now recommended. It is intended to draw general attention to the revision, the full version of which will be published separately.

Thyroid cancer and thyroiditis in the goitrous region of Salta, Argentina, before and after iodine prophylaxis

OBJECTIVE The importance of iodine intake and thyroiditis in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer remains controversial. We have investigated the natural history of thyroid cancer and thyroiditis in a goitrous region before and after iodine prophylaxis over a 31‐year period.

Evidence for autocrine production of IGF-1 in human thyroid adenomas

We have recently shown that epithelial cells from a high proportion of benign human thyroid tumours (follicular adenomas) have escaped from the requirement of the normal cell for an exogenous source of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), suggesting either autocrine production or intracellular generation of an IGF-1-induced growth signal. We show here that conditioned medium from these adenoma cells can confer IGF-1 independence on normal thyroid epithelial cells and that this activity is abolished by immunoadsorption with an anti-IGF-1 antibody. In addition, tumour but not normal cells contain immunoreactive IGF-1. Our data provide the first evidence for autocrine production of IGF-1 (or a related factor) in a benign epithelial tumour and suggest that this may be a key early step in thyroid tumorigenesis.

Epithelial-stromal interactions in tumors. A morphologic study of fibroepithelial tumors of the breast

Background and Methods. The known spatial interaction between normal breast epithelium and its surrounding stroma prompted an investigation of the spatial relationship between stromal mitoses and the epithelial component of fibroepithelial tumors of the breast. The authors applied a novel computerized morphometric technique to routinely processed histologic sections of 23 fibroepithelial tumors (13 fibroadenomas and 10 phyllodes tumors). The proportional area of epithelium in successive concentric annuli surrounding stromal mitoses was measured, and its distribution was compared with that around suitable control points.

Mitotic Response to Wounding In Goitrous and Normal Rat Thyroid: Implications For Thyroid Growth Control

Abstract. Thyroid growth in the rat in response to a sustained elevation of serum thyrotropin (TSH) is limited by a progressive desensitization of the follicular cells to the mitogenic action of TSH which is not reversed by withdrawal of stimulation or by reduction of cell number. This study shows that, in thyroids which have reached a ‘plateau’ of growth, wounding induces a marked local follicular cell mitotic response which is equal in magnitude to that seen in control glands. This demonstrates that these cells, which are refractory to TSH, have not lost the capacity to divide. It is concluded that limitation of TSH‐induced thyroid growth is not due to a non‐specific loss of mitotic capacity resulting from severe hypothyroidism or goitrogen toxicity, or to an inherent limitation of the number of divisions which a follicular cell can undergo. the implications of these findings are discussed.

λ Light Chain Restriction in the Diffuse Thyroid Lymphoid Infiltrate in Untreated Graves’disease

INTRODUCTION It has recently been shown that the pathogenically important TSH receptor antibodies found in Graves’ disease are mainly synthesised by lymphocytes closely associated with thyroid follicles.1It has also been shown that these antibodies are almost exclusively restricted to the K light chain type.2 In this study we have used an immunoperoxidase technique to analyse, in situ, the distribution of the λ light chain isotypes of plasma cells found within Graves’1 disease thyroids.

Contents Vol. 5, 2016

Maria Alevizaki – Athens University, Athens, Greece Ana Aranda – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Rebecca Bahn – Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minn., USA Paul Banga – King’s College London School of Medicine, London, UK Luigi Bartalena – University of Insubria, Varese, Italy Bernadette Biondi – University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy Anita Boelen – Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands Georg Brabant – University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany Henning Dralle – Martin Luther University, Halle/Saale, Germany Creswell J. Eastman – The University of Sydney, Westmead, N.S.W., Australia Murat Erdogan – Ibni-i-Sina Hastanesi, Ankara, Turkey Valentin Fadeyev – Federal Endocrinological Scientific Centre, Moscow, Russia Ulla Feldt-Rasmussen – Copenhagen Univ. Hosp., Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark Laszlo Hegedus – Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark George J. Kahaly – Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany Rui Maciel – Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Ana Luiza Maia – Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil Jens Mittag – University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany Ralf Paschke – Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Robin P. Peeters – Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Growth Factor Requirement of Isolated Thyroid Follicles

Our previous studies in intact animals (1,2) have demonstrated the existence of a growth desensitization mechanism which limits the proliferative response of the normal rat thyroid follicular cell to its trophic hormone, TSH, and which appears to be lost in early follicular cell tumors. To study this mechanism further we have established a tissue culture model using isolated thyroid follicles grown in suspension. We have now used this to define the responsiveness of normal follicular cells to purified growth factors in a serum-free medium.