Thyroglobulin in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a sensitive marker for detection of metastatic disease in patients who have been operated on for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. A high serum Tg value during thyroxine suppression therapy is indicative of metastatic disease, but the sensitivity is enhanced by the endogenous TSH response occurring when thyroxine medication is withheld. False-negative values before thyroxine withdrawal can be demonstrated in about 20 % of the patients in our material. If not all thyroid tissue has been eradicated the interpretation of the serum Tg can be difficult Tg cannot be used to differentiate benign from malignant disease prior to surgery.

Key Words:

• Thyroglobulin
• thyroid carcinoma
• ¹³¹I-scintigraphy