ArticleEndocrine connections2021
DLL3 (delta-like protein 3) expression correlates with stromal desmoplasia and lymph node metastases in medullary thyroid carcinomas.
Article in Endocrine connections, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Next-generation anti-DLL3 radiopharmaceuticals targeting high-grade neuroendocrine lung and prostate cancers.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Multi-center Assessment of DLL3 Expression by Immunohistochemistry in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Endocrine pathology · 2025Article
- Targeting DLL3: Innovative Strategies for Tumor Treatment.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Prognostic significance of tertiary lymphoid structures in gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma with association to delta-like ligand 3 and neuroendocrine expressions.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2025Article
- CAR-T therapy for endocrine neoplasms: novel targets and combination of therapies.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- CAR-T therapy for neuroendocrine neoplasms: a review of molecular targets and clinical translation.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) landscape in pulmonary and extra-pulmonary neuroendocrine neoplasms.NPJ precision oncology · 2024Article
- Differential NEUROD1, ASCL1, and POU2F3 Expression Defines Molecular Subsets of Bladder Small Cell/Neuroendocrine Carcinoma With Prognostic Implications.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2024Article
- Transcriptomic Differences in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma According to Grade.Endocrine pathology · 2024Article
- DLL3 as an Emerging Target for the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms.The oncologist · 2022Review
- Sporadic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Towards a Precision Medicine.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC) are rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumors of the thyroid. About 70% of MTC are sporadic; approximately 50% of those harbor somatic RET mutation. DLL3 is widely expressed in many neuroendocrine tumors and has been evaluated as a potential therapeutic target. Since stromal desmoplasia in sporadic MTC has been identified as a reliable predictor of aggressive behavior and development of lymph node metastases, a possible correlation of DLL3 expression with the presence of stromal desmoplasia was of particular interest. 59 paraffin-embedded samples of sporadic MTC with (44 cases) and without (15 cases) stromal desmoplasia and known lymph node status were included. DLL3 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry; no expression (0%), low expression (1-49%) and high expression (≥50%) were correlated with clinicopathological data. The proportion of DLL3 positivity was significantly correlated with both stromal desmoplasia (P < 0.0001) and lymph node metastases (P < 0.0001). MTC without stromal desmoplasia consistently lack DLL3 expression. This is the first study to focus on MTC regarding DLL3 expression and the relationship to various factors. Our results demonstrate that expression of DLL3 in MTC represents a reliable surrogate marker for stromal desmoplasia and lymph node metastases and might be an indicator for aggressive clinical behavior. DLL3 expression in ≥50% of tumor cells virtually excludes MTC without stromal desmoplasia. DLL3 was discussed as a potential therapeutic target in malignant tumors of other locations with positive immunohistochemical reaction and might therefore be a new therapeutic option in MTC, as well.
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