Infrequent Microsatellite Instability in Papillary Carcinomas of the Thyroid

The aim of the present study was to confirm the frequency of microsatellite instability in thyroid cancers. We investigated 26 patients suffering from thyroid cancer (25 papillary carcinomas, 1 follicular carcinoma) using 8 microsatellite markers. Microsatellite instability (MSI) was found in two (7.7%) papillary carcinomas. Our data indicate that MSI is a relatively rare event and may seldom contribute to the carcinogenesis of papillary carcinomas of the thyroid.