Comprehensive transcriptomic profiling reveals molecular characteristics and biomarkers associated with risk stratification in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is one of the most common endocrine malignancies, with varying levels of risk and clinical behavior. A better understanding of the molecular characteristics could improve molecular diagnosis and risk assessment. In this study, we performed whole transcriptomic sequencing on 113 PTC cases, including 70 high-risk and 43 low-risk Chinese patients. Comparative transcriptional profiling analysis revealed two functionally distinct patterns of gene dysregulation between the risk subtypes. Low-risk PTCs showed significant upregulation of immune-related genes and increased immune cell infiltration, whereas high-risk PTCs presented extensive alterations in gene expression and activation of oncogenic signaling pathways. Additionally, we developed a 31-gene transcriptomic signature (PTCrisk) for differentiating high-risk from low-risk PTCs, which was validated across both in-house and external multicenter cohorts. PTCrisk scores were positively correlated with key clinicopathological features, including tumor size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and BRAF mutation status. Overall, our study provides further molecular insights into PTC risk stratification and may contribute to the development of personalized therapeutic strategies for PTC patients.