New Test For Detection of Recurrent Thyroid Cancer

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Dec 22, 2000

Scientists at the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo in Brazil have identified a new test for monitoring the recurrence of thyroid cancer, thyroglobulin mRNA (circulating thyroglobulin messenger ribonucleic acid). A study of 34 patients who had undergone thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer compared the results of thyroid mRNA with conventional forms of follow-up studies including whole body scan and sodium/iodide supporter mRNA. Seventeen of the thrity-four had also had treatment with radioactive iodine. Thirteen patients identified with elevated levels of thyrogobulin mRNA, eight had undetected levels of TSH, 6 showed no uptake on a whole body scan and three showed metastatic cancer.

This test does not require stopping T4 therapy or the use of recombinant TSH, a big plus to patients. Current tests require as many as three weeks off thyroxine before the test. Patients can experience very uncomfortable symptoms of hypothyroidism during that time.

New Test Improves the Detection of Recurrent Thyroid Cancer J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000;85;3623-3627 accessed 8 Dec 2000
Biscolla RP, Cerutti JM, Maciel RM Detection of recurrent thyroid cancer by sensitive nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of thyroglobulin and sodium/iodide symporter messenger ribonucleic acid transcripts in peripheral blood J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000 Oct;85(10):3623-7

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