Effect of Microwave Ablation on HSP70 Expression in Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: A Preliminary Study

To explore the changes of Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) expression after microwave ablation (MWA) of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and to discuss the potential relevance. Observed the prognosis of 63 PTMC patients who underwent MWA in our hospital from October 2020 to October 2022.Two different regions of interest (ROI), namely the central region and marginal region, were set on each nodule for quantitative investigation of HSP70 expression by using immunohistochemistry method. Each ROI experienced histological sampling by using core-needle biopsy before and after MWA. HSP70 expression was compared for the same ROI before and after ablation and between different ROIs after ablation. HSP70 expression had no significant changes in the central regions before and after ablation in the 63 thyroid nodules, and the expression was significantly enhanced in the marginal region after ablation (P < 0.05). After ablation the expression of HSP70 in the marginal region had no significant changes than those in the central regions. Before ablation the expression of HSP70 in the central regions was significantly higher than those in the marginal region (P < 0.05). HSP70 was enhanced in the tissue of thyroid papillary carcinoma. Increased expression of HSP70 in the marginal region might protect normal glandular tissue against heat damage during MWA treatment of PTMC nodules.