Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2013) 32 P1109 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.32.P1109

ECE2013 Poster Presentations Thyroid cancer (64 abstracts)

Predictive value of preablation stimulated thyroglobulin in differentiated thyroid cancer

Inmaculada Prior Sánchez, Ma Ángeles Gálvez Moreno, Carmen Tenorio Jiménez, Ma Rosa Alhambra Expósito, Raúl Ruiz Ortega, Estefania Moreno Ortega, Juan Antonio Vallejo Casas & Pedro Benito López


Reina Sofía Universitary Hospital, Córdoba, Spain.


Background: Previous studies have suggested that serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels at the time of 131I remnant ablation just after thyroidectomy, could be a prognostic tumor marker in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate if serum preablation Tg in the earliest postoperative period could be useful for predicting persistence or recurrence of disease.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis. We included 160 patients with DTC who underwent total thyroidectomy and received ablative therapy with I131 from January 2000 to December 2011. A stimulated Tg was measured just at the time of the first 131I therapy (preablation-Tg). We correlated this value with a stimulated Tg-control (control-Tg) measured at the time of the diagnostic whole-body scan, performed approximately 6–12 months after preablation-Tg. Exclusion criteria were positive Tg antibody (n=9) and microcarcinoma (n=26). Follow-up was performed according to the American Thyroid Association Guidelines published in 2009. The minimum follow-up period was 14 months.

Results: Sixty-three of 77 patients (82%) with preablation-Tg ≤3 ng/ml showed undetectable (≤1 ng/ml) control-Tg and 37 of 48 (77%) patients with preablation-Tg >3 ng/ml showed detectable (>1 ng/ml) control-Tg (P<0.001). At follow-up, 72 of 91 (79%) with preablation-Tg ≤3 ng/ml showed remission and 20 of 28 patients (71%) who showed persistence/recurrence, had a preablation-Tg >10 ng/ml (P<0.001). The negative predictive value for recurrence in patients having preablation-Tg ≤3 ng/ml was found to be 98.4% (73 of 77 patients, P<0.001).

Conclusion: Preablation-Tg levels correlated well with the control-Tg levels. A preablation-Tg ≤3 ng/ml is a favorable prognostic factor in DTC.

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