Application of thyroglobulin and anti-thyroglobulin antibody combined with emission computed tomography in the adjuvant diagnosis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic flow-chart of the study. Tg: thyroglobulin; anti-TgAb: anti-thyroglobulin antibody; ECT: emission computed tomography.

Table 1. Baseline data.

Indicators	Observation group (n = 387)	Control group (n = 151)	χ^2/t	p Value
Gender			1.299	0.254
Male	189 (48.8)	82 (54.3)
Female	198 (51.2)	69 (45.7)
Age (years old)	42.7 ± 6.8	43.2 ± 7.0	0.760	0.448
Nodule diameter (cm)	2.97 ± 0.39	3.02 ± 0.36	1.365	0.173
Tumor types
Papillary thyroid carcinoma	299 (77.3)	–
Follicular thyroid carcinoma	88 (22.7)	–
Tg (ng/mL)	161.96 ± 56.21	67.75 ± 23.47	19.920	< 0.0001
TgAb (IU/mL)	191.37 ± 50.60	105.10 ± 36.12	19.139	< 0.0001

Tg: thyroglobulin; anti-TgAb: anti-thyroglobulin antibody.

Table 2. Comparison of thyroglobulin diagnosis and pathological results.

Thyroglobulin	Pathological results		Total	Kappa-value	Consistency degree
	Malignant tumor	Benign nodule
Positive (> 78.00 ng/mL)	309 (57.4)	63 (11.7)	372	0.370	General
Negative (≤ 78.00 ng/mL)	78 (14.5)	88 (16.4)	166
Total	387	151	538

Table 3. Comparison of anti-thyroglobulin antibody diagnosis and pathological results.

Anti-thyroglobulin antibody	Pathological results		Total	Kappa-value	Consistency degree
	Malignant tumor	Benign nodule
Positive (> 115 IU/mL)	323 (60.0)	67 (12.5)	390 (72.5)	0.393	General
Negative (≤ 115 IU/mL)	64 (11.9)	84 (15.6)	148 (27.5)
Total	387 (71.9)	151 (28.1)	538 (100.0)

Table 4. Comparison of ECT diagnosis and pathological results.

ECT	Pathological results		Total	Kappa-value	Consistency degree
	Malignant tumor	Benign nodule
Malignant tumor	341 (63.4)	35 (6.4)	376 (69.8)	0.625	Relatively high
Benign nodule	46 (8.6)	116 (21.6)	162 (30.2)
Total	387 (72.0)	151 (28.0)	538 (100.0)

ECT: emission computed tomography.

Table 5. Comparison of thyroglobulin and anti-thyroglobulin antibody combined with ECT diagnosis and pathological results.

Combined detection	Pathological results		Total	Kappa-value	Consistency degree
	Malignant tumor	Benign nodule
Malignant tumor	354 (65.8)	21 (3.9)	375 (69.7)	0.757	High
Benign nodule	33 (6.1)	130 (24.2)	163 (30.3)
Total	387 (71.9)	151 (28.1)	538 (100.0)

ECT: emission computed tomography.

Figure 2. ROC Curves of different diagnostic methods. Tg: thyroglobulin; anti-TgAb: anti-thyroglobulin antibody; ECT: emission computed tomography.

Table 6. ROC curve analysis.

Diagnostic method	AUC	S.E	Sig	95%CI
Tg	0.691	0.027	0.000	0.638–0.743
TgAb	0.695	0.027	0.000	0.643–0.748
ECT	0.825	0.022	0.000	0.781–0.868
Combined detection	0.888	0.018	0.000	0.852–0.924

Tg: thyroglobulin; anti-TgAb: anti-thyroglobulin antibody; ECT: emission computed tomography.

Table 7. Diagnostic efficacy of Tg, TgAb and ECT (alone or in combination) in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Diagnostic method	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Accuracy (%)
Tg	79.8	58.3	73.8
TgAb	83.5	55.6	75.7
ECT	88.1	75.9	83.8
Combined diagnosis	91.5	86.1	90.0

Tg: thyroglobulin; anti-TgAb: anti-thyroglobulin antibody; ECT: emission computed tomography.

Data availability Statement

The labeled dataset used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.