[目的]探讨甲状腺乳头状癌(papillary thyroid cancer,PTC)组织中TSHR基因启动子区甲基化程度及其临床意义。[方法]采用甲基化特异性聚合酶链反应(Methylation-Specific Polymerase chain reaction,MSP)法检测100例PTC组织及其癌旁组织中TSHR基因启动子甲基化状态,并结合患者的临床病理特征和随访信息分析TSHR与PTC进展及预后的关系。[结果]100例PTC组织中TSHR基因启动子甲基化率为77%,明显高于癌旁组织的7%(P=0.002)。TSHR基因甲基化程度与患者初诊年龄、原发灶大小、数量、腺外侵犯、淋巴转移、TNM分期呈正相关(P<0.05);而与患者性别、T分期无关(P>0.05)。单因素生存分析显示TSHR基因甲基化预示更短的无病生存时间,而多因素生存分析显示TSHR基因甲基化不是PTC患者无病生存的独立影响因素。[结论 ]TSHR基因启动子区甲基化是PTC组织中频发的分子事件,与肿瘤的进展相关并提示PTC患者的不良预后。 [Objective] To investigate the methylation status of TSHR gene promoter region in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and its clinical significance. [Method] Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) was used to detect methylation status of TSHR gene promoter in 100 cases of PTC tissues and its adjacent tissues. Combined with the clinical pathology Characteristics and follow-up information analysis TSHR and PTC progress and prognosis. [Results] The promoter methylation rate of TSHR gene was 77% in 100 cases of PTC tissues, which was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues (P = 0.002). The methylation level of TSHR gene was positively correlated with the age at first diagnosis, the size and number of primary tumor, the extranodal invasion, lymphatic metastasis and TNM stage (P <0.05), but not with the gender and T stage (P> 0.05). Univariate survival analysis showed that TSHR gene methylation predicted shorter disease-free survival time, and multivariate survival analysis showed that methylation of TSHR gene is not independent of disease-free survival in PTC patients. [Conclusion] The promoter methylation of TSHR gene is a frequent molecular event in PTC tissue, which is correlated with the progress of the tumor and prompts the poor prognosis of PTC patients.