Clinical and Pathological Implications of Concurrent Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders and Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Figure 2

Multistep carcinogenesis model of thyroid cancer formation. Formation of benign thyroid tumors occurs as a result of alteration of various growth factors. Follicular neoplasms are formed from thyrocytes by mutations of RAS and other factors, as shown in the figure. Papillary cancers are formed by alterations in RET/PTC and other oncogenes. Undifferentiated tumors are formed from differentiated tumors by mutations of tumor suppressor genes (adapted from [87]).