Basal and stimulated calcitonin for the diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer: updated thresholds and safety assessment.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Reliable cut-offs for basal (bCT) and calcium stimulated calcitonin (casCT) are needed for an early and accurate diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

Patients and methods

Fifty-four new patients with nodular goiter were enrolled and analysed together with those previously published by our group for a total of 135 cases. bCT and casCT were measured by a highly sensitive method and the results compared with histological findings. In a subgroup of patients, cardiac rhythm was recorded before and during the calcium test.

Results

In both females (F) and males (M), there was a significant correlation between tumor size and bCT levels (P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic plot analyses showed that, for bCT, the new cut-off points able to separate

SUBMITTER: Fugazzola L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7878259 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature