Histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and molecular biology

Abstract

The pathology of thyroid carcinoma is characterized by a defined histopathological classification system that has only undergone minor changes in the past few years, which is the basis of clinical diagnostic and treatment modalities as well as by a rapid progress of application of new methods and increasing knowledge of basic mechanisms in molecular pathology. However, at least in the field of C-cell carcinoma, thyroid pathology represents an impressive example of the successful application of molecular pathology in clinical practice. The aim of this review is to summarize the principles of clinical histopathology in thyroid carcinoma followed by a brief analysis of recent work in molecular pathology concentrating on original recent articles on surgical material and revealing some correlations to the questions of diagnostic clinical histopathology. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001, 2005.