Differentiated
thyroid cancer (DTC) is a common type of
cancer among women with an increasing worldwide incidence rate. However, there are no specific and sensitive molecular
biomarkers for DTC diagnosis or prognosis.
Angiopoietin-like protein 1 (ANGPTL1) may be a novel
tumor suppressor in lung, breast, colorectal and
hepatocellular carcinoma. However, little is known about the influence of ANGPTL1 on the malignant properties of
thyroid cancer cells or DTC recurrence in patients. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of ANGPTL1 on
thyroid cancer malignancy or recurrence. The present study examined the
mRNA levels of ANGPTL1 in
thyroid cancer and paracancerous tissues using
RNA sequencing data from The
Cancer Genome Atlas. The present study also determined the effects of ANGPTL1 on
thyroid cancer cell proliferation using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Associations were identified among ANGPTL1 expression levels and
thyroid cancer proliferation, migration and
metastasis using The
Cancer Genome Atlas data set and by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. The expression of ANGPTL1 in patients with DTC and without recurrence was compared in order to assess its potential as a prognostic
biomarker for DTC. In addition, ANGPTL1 concentrations in the serum of patients with DTC and individuals with benign
thyroid nodules were compared to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of ANGPTL1 as a predictive
biomarker for DTC. The results of the present study demonstrated that ANGPTL1 expression levels were lower in
thyroid cancer compared with those in adjacent normal thyroid tissues. ANGPTL1 expression was observed to decrease with
thyroid cancer progression. In addition, ANGPTL1 was demonstrated to inhibit
thyroid cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion and ANGPTL1 expression levels were reduced in patients with DTC with recurrence compared with those in patients with non-recurrent DTC. Additionally, serum concentrations of ANGPTL1 in patients with DTC were decreased compared with those in individuals with benign
thyroid nodules. In conclusion, ANGPTL1 may be a novel predictive
biomarker for DTC diagnosis and recurrence in patients with DTC.