ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY OF CLEAR CELL THYROID-CARCINOMA

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  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 101  (3) , 140-144
Abstract
Three human thyroid carcinomas composed in part or entirely of clear cells were studied by light microscopy and EM, and thyroglobulin content was determined by biochemical methods. Clear cells were found in follicular and papillary thyroid carcinomas and undifferentiated carcinomas. The clear (wasserhelle) appearance of the cytoplasm was due to the accumulation of glycogen. The major ultramicroscopic features of the clear cells were the presence of glycogen granules, decreased amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum, increased amounts of free ribosomes arranged in polysomes, a hypertrophic Golgi apparatus and sparsity of dense bodies of lysosomal character. The intracellular accumulation of glycogen may be a result of a selective loss of the peptide portion of thyroglobulin, and may influence the degree of biochemical differentiation and the natural course of the tumors.

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