Abstract: In this paper, 82 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer were selected as the malignant group, and 82 patients with benign thyroid nodules were selected as the benign group. All were performed ultrasound contrast, as well as the detection of proliferation gene expression in tumor tissue and lymph node metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer. It was found that the levels of PI, MTT, and TTP in the malignant group were lower than those in the benign group, while the expression levels of Twist1 and TPX2 mRNA in tumor specimens in the malignant group were higher than those in the benign group. In addition, the expression levels of PP4R1 and PDCD4 mRNA were lower than those in the benign group. The ultrasound contrast parameters were negatively correlated with the expression of Twist1 and TPX2 mRNA in tumor tissue samples, and positively correlated with the expression of PP4R1 and PDCD4 mRNA (P<0.05). The AUC value of combination of PI, MTT and TTP to predict the lymph node metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer was higher than that predicted by a single index. It is suggested that the abnormalities of ultrasound contrast parameters are directly related to the changed expression of proliferating genes and lymph node metastasis. By ultrasonography, we can quantify the proliferation and invasion activity of thyroid cancer tumor cells.

Key words: contrast-enhanced ultrasound, differentiated thyroid cancer, proliferation genes, lymph nodes metastasis, peak intensity, programmed cell death factor