Difference in CT texture analysis parameter of benign and malignant thyroid nodules and its correlation with the malignant biological behaviors of cancer cells

摘要

Objective: To investigate the difference in CT texture analysis parameter of benign and malignant thyroid nodules and its correlation with the malignant biological behaviors of cancer cells. Methods: A total of 228 patients with thyroid nodules who underwent thyroid surgery in this hospital between July 2015 and January 2018 were selected as the research subjects and divided into thyroid cancer group (n=140) and thyroid adenoma group (n=88) according to the pathological results. The differences in CT texture analysis parameter levels as well as the expression of thyroid cancer-related proliferation and invasion genes in lesions were compared between the two groups. Correlation analysis was used to further judge correlation of CT texture analysis parameter levels with proliferation and invasion genes. Results: The lesion tissue entropy of thyroid cancer group was smaller than that of thyroid adenoma group; proliferation genes BRD4, TPX2, FoxM1, TBX2, MDM2 and CRNDE mRNA expressions in the lesion tissues were higher than those of thyroid adenoma group whereas ST7L mRNA expression was lower than that of thyroid adenoma group; invasion genes Six1, Stat5 and Twist1 mRNA expressions in the lesion tissues were higher than those of thyroid adenoma group whereas BRMS1, Cx43 and TSHR mRNA expressions were lower than those of thyroid adenoma group. Pearson test showed that the level of CT texture analysis parameter entropy of thyroid cancer tissue was directly correlated with the proliferation and invasion activity of cancer cells. Conclusion: CT texture analysis parameter entropy levels are significantly different between benign and malignant thyroid nodules, and the specific level can reflect the proliferation and invasion activity of cancer cells.