Estrogen Receptor α Induces Prosurvival Autophagy in Papillary Thyroid Cancer via Stimulating Reactive Oxygen Species and Extracellular Signal Regulated Kinases

The incidence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) shows a predominance in females, with a male:female ratio of 1:3, and none of the known risk factors are associated with gender difference. Increasing evidence indicates a role of estrogen in thyroid tumorigenesis, but the mechanism involved remains largely unknown. This study aimed to assess the contribution of autophagy to estrogen receptor α (ERα)-mediated growth of PTC. The expression of ERα in...