Overview

Laboratory Introduction

TEN(Thyroid & Endocrine Neoplasm) Laboratory

TEN(Thyroid & Endocrine Neoplasm) Laboratory
Our laboratory studies endocrine tumors such as parathyroid glands and adrenal glands, in particular, thyroid cancer. The laboratory is located at Seoul National University's Cancer Research Institute. We have been constantly contemplating about creating a laboratory that can integrate basic and clinical research. Endocrine tumor biobank was established from the beginning of the establishment of the laboratory, and human specimens such as thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands have been collected. The Biobank has more than 7,000 samples, including blood, urine, hair and cancer tissues of various endocrine tumors, normal tissue of the same patient. Moreover, BioBank is still growing in size and quality with more than 7,000 samples at present. Since Biobank was established, it has been conducting next-generation sequencing research using human cancer tissues and has been discovering new candidates for thyroid cancer-causing genes. Bioinformatics is the latest trend in biology, and in particular, next-generation sequential big data such as TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) is being released as public data, so that the high quality research can be conducted in everywhere. Our laboratory also has been actively verified several our biologic data which containing next-generation sequencing data, clinical genetic data, and gene expression found in vitro experiment by comparing with the public biologic data. In addition to Bioinformatics, in vitro and in vivo experiments are also being actively conducted. Firstly, we conduct in vitro experiments to identify characteristics of cells (patterns of growth, metastasis, mobility and etc.) with a cell-line harboring certain mutation. And then, we proceed animal experiments to more clarify our hypothesis by checking up growth of tumors, drug sensitivity, and immune cell profiling as well as survival analysis, if necessary. We keep our efforts in order to apply excellent results from studies conducted at “Bench” to “Bedside” New entrants can be encouraged to conduct basic experiments, and have opportunities of discussing with our experts about the analysis of advanced bioinformatics.
Related Researcher
이규언

Kyu Eun Lee Professor

김수진

Su-Jin Kim Professor

Research topics

Although the BRAF V600E mutation is the most frequent mutation in thyroid cancer, it has not been able to produce BRAF V600E mutant cell lines with human thyroid cells (manufactured only in mice or rats). In 2017, our laboratory produced the first BRAF V600E mutated thyroid cell-line using human cells and is using it in additional experiments. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare cancer that accounts for less than 2% of the total thyroid cancer, but it is an aggressive malignant tumor with a survival period of less than six months and a 1-year survival rate of 10-20% after diagnosis. An understanding of the tumor itself as well as the tumor-immune microenvironment surrounding the tumor is essential in studying the tumor. Anaplastic thyroid cancer has a unique property, such as having a very high infiltration rate of macrophages compared to other cancers. Therefore, a full immune mouse model is needed to understand the interaction with anaplastic thyroid cancer and immunologic environment. The lab developed TBP-3743B6 to study anaplastic thyroid cancer by using the most widely used C57BL/6 fully immune mice which believed to be a good material for studying tumor cell, tumor-micro-environment and interactions with immune system. Thyroid cancer has a gender disparity which is predominantly more common in women. The 80 percent of the thyroid cancer is in women according to The Cancer registration and Statistics in Korea. The incidence of thyroid cancer in women steadily increases after puberty, forming a peak before and after menopause, reflecting changes in the female hormone secretion patterns after menopause. Our studies reported that the extent of female hormone receptor expression and expression rate were closely associated with the prognosis of thyroid cancer patients, and cell experiments confirmed that female hormones promote aggression and metastatic ability of thyroid cancer. To identify the gender disparities in thyroid cancer, we would be fully committed to these objectives.

Research goals
The vision of our laboratory is to be a laboratory equipped with practical basic science, clinical science, bioinformatics by doing so being constantly growing laboratory. In the long run, the aim is to foster the following researchers : 1) A researcher who can conduct basic molecular biology experiments and biological information analysis 2) Researchers who discuss with clinicians and understand the clinical significance of molecular biology research
Research achievements

BRAFV600E Mutation Enhances Estrogen-Induced Metastatic Potential of Thyroid Cancer by Regulating the Expression of Estrogen Receptors. Endocrinology and Metabolism 37.6(2022): 879-890

Role of Local Treatment for Oligometastasis: A Comparability-Based Meta-Analysis. CANCER RESEARCH AND TREATMENT 54.4(2022): 953-969

Prevalence of Postoperatively Detected High-risk Features in 2-to 4-cm Papillary Thyroid Cancers. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM 107.10(2022): E4124-E4131

Characteristics of germline mutations in Korean patients with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS 59.1(2022): 56-64

A Cross-Sectional Survey of Patient Treatment Choice in a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study on Active Surveillance of Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma (MAeSTro). THYROID 32.7(2022): 772-780

Perioperative hemodynamic instability in pheochromocytoma and sympathetic paraganglioma patients. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 11.1(2021) 

Metabolic changes in serum steroids for diagnosing and subtyping Cushing's syndrome. JOURNAL OF STEROID BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 210(2021)

BRAFV600E Transduction of an SV40-Immortalized Normal Human Thyroid Cell Line Induces Dedifferentiated Thyroid Carcinogenesis in a Mouse Xenograft Model. Thyroid 30.4 (2020): 487-500.

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