Related Experiment Videos
[Thyroglobulin RT-PCR method for detection of lymph node metastases during the course of differentiated thyroid
E Gubała1, D Handkiewicz-Junak, M Zeman
1Zakładu Medycyny Nuklearnej i Endokrynologii Onkologicznej, Centrum Onkologii-Instytut im. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie w Gliwicach.
Unlabelled:
In patients with a suspicion of recurrence of differentiated thyroid cancer with metastases to lymph nodes, detection of thyroglobulin (Tg) mRNA in fine needle biopsy material may support the interpretation of classic cytological examination in cases where it fails to detect lymph node involvement early enough.
Aim:
Prospective study of thyroglobulin mRNA detection in neck lymph nodes in patients with suspected differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) metastases.
Material:
70 nodes from 60 patients with suspected DTC recurrence were investigated. Patients with suspicion of lymph node metastases of other types of cancer were included as a control group. Thyroglobulin RT-PCR was conducted in residual material left after preparation of cytological smears from fine needle biopsy specimens. Primers spanning exons 3-5 were used with 39 cycles of PCR. RNA isolation control and cDNA amplification were carried out using GADPH starters.
Results:
Classical cytology confirmed nodal involvement in 22 of DTC patients, RT-PCR Tg was positive in 20 of them (91%). Among 48 patients with a suspicion of DTC recurrence and negative cytology, Tg mRNA was found twice. One positive RT-PCR result was confirmed by repeated cytology conducted 4-6 months later and followed by surgery. No positive result of RT-PCR was obtained with other head and neck malignancies. The overall specificity was estimated with 98%.
Conclusions:
RT-PCR Tg shows sufficient specificity to be applied in further studies estimating its usefulness in fine needle biopsy for early detection of lymph node metastases in differentiated thyroid cancer.