Abstract: Objective  To analyze the expressions of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) and Beclin-1 (BECN-1) in papillary thyroid carcinoma （PTC） and their clinical significances. Methods  Thirty patients with PTC who were performed total thyroidectomy in the General Hospital Affiliated to Tianjin Medical University from October 2015 to May 2016 were collected. All patients were diagnosed with unilateral PTC. The tumor tissues were taken from the patients′ ipsilateral thyroids, and 30 cases of normal tissues were taken from the patients′ contralateral normal thyroids. The expressions of AEG-1 and BECN-1 in PTC tissues were detected by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The relationships between the expression status and clinicopathologic features were analyzed. Results  The positive expression levels ［M(Q_R)］ of AEG-1 in PTC and the normal tissues were 0.626 1 （0.741 4） and 0.049 8 （0.011 8） respectively, with a significant difference (Z=-4.488, P=0.000). The positive expression levels of BECN-1 in PTC and the normal tissues were 0.067 9 （0.198 1） and 0.785 7 （0.361 7） respectively, with a significant difference (Z=-5.441, P=0.000). In PTC, the expressions of AEG-1 and BECN-1 were related to TNM staging (Z=-3.980, P=0.000; Z=-2.265, P=0.023) and lymphatic metastasis (Z=-3.190, P=0.001; Z=-2.640, P=0.008), but they were not related to age (Z=-1.203, P=0.229; Z=-1.162, P=0.245), gender (Z=-1.222, P=0.222; Z=-0.453, P=0.651) and tumor size (Z=-1.496, P=0.135; Z=-1.166, P=0.244). The expression of AEG-1 was negatively correlated with that of BECN-1 (r=-0.343, P=0.007).Conclusion  The expression of AEG-1 in PTC is higher than that in normal tissues and the expression of BECN-1 in PTC is lower than that in normal tissues， and the expressions of AEG-1 and BECN-1 are related to TNM staging and lymphatic metastasis, which are expected to become prognostic indicators.

Key words: Thyroid neoplasms, Astrocyte elevated gene-1, Beclin-1 gene