Expression and significance of c-kit and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) molecules in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs)

Background: To investigate the expression and significance of c-kit and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) molecules (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Twist, Snail) in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs). Methods: The tissue microarray technology and immunohistochemistry MaxVisionTM-use kit were used to detect the expression of c-kit and EMT molecular markers in 150 cases of paraffin sections of TET tissue and analysis the correlation between c-kit and EMT molecules and explore the malignancy and the relationship of clinicopathological parameters between c-kit, EMT molecules and TETs. Results: The expression difference of c-kit and EMT molecular markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Snail, Twist) in TETs subtypes was statistically significant (P Conclusions: Five indicators (c-kit, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Twist, and Snail) may determine the malignancy of TETs, especially for distinguishing thymoma and thymic carcinoma.