Clinical evaluation of tumor characteristics predisposing serum thyroglobulin to be undetectable in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Cancer (Philadelphia); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(19880301)61:5<976::AID-CNCR2820610520>3.0.CO;2-U· OSTI ID:5355340

Mueller-Gaertner, H W.Sc.; Schneider, C

This study delineates tumor characteristics which predispose serum thyroglobulin (TG) to be undetectable in patients in spite of persistent or recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer. Three hundred seventy four thyroid carcinoma patients with completed thyroid ablation were investigated by means of conventional diagnostic procedures (iodine-131 total-body scan, x-ray, TG determination) and, in addition, with high-resolution sonographic study of the neck. Sensitivity of TG for the detection of metastases amounted to 83% under TSH stimulation and 50% under thyroxine (T4) treatment. Specificity proved to be 95% under TSH stimulation and 99% under T4 treatment. Common features of the tumors associated with false-negative TG determinations (n = 16) were papillary histologic characteristics, manifestation in lymph nodes of the neck or mediastinum, and small size. It is therefore necessary for the early detection of persistent or recurrent papillary cancer metastases to perform in addition to iodine-131 scans high-resolution sonography of the neck in combination with the determination of TG serum concentrations under endogenous TSH stimulation.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Hamburg (West Germany)
• OSTI ID: 5355340
• Journal Information: Cancer (Philadelphia); (United States), Vol. 61:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CARCINOMAS
DIAGNOSIS
THYROGLOBULIN
SECRETION
THYROID
IODINE 131
METASTASES
PATIENTS
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
THYROIDECTOMY
THYROXINE
TSH
ULTRASONOGRAPHY
X RADIATION
AMINO ACIDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISEASES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
GLANDS
GLOBULINS
HORMONES
IMMUNOASSAY
IMMUNOLOGY
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IODINE ISOTOPES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MEDICINE
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC IODINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PEPTIDE HORMONES
PITUITARY HORMONES
PROTEINS
RADIATIONS
RADIOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNOLOGY
RADIOISOTOPES
SURGERY
THYROID HORMONES
TRACER TECHNIQUES
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