ArticleBiochemia medica2018
Calcium-stimulated calcitonin - The "new standard" in the diagnosis of thyroid C-cell disease - clinically relevant gender-specific cut-off levels for an "old test".
Article in Biochemia medica, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of the calcium stimulation test in diagnosing medullary thyroid cancer: is it adequate to achieve a diagnosis in both sexes? An individual patient data meta-analysis.European thyroid journal · 2025Pooled it
- The Pitfalls of Calcitonin as a Tumor Marker: Real-Life Data of Patients with Elevated Basal Calcitonin Levels but Without Evidence of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Response to the Letter to the Editor: Recalibrating evidence: a cautionary note on the use of post hoc thresholds in IPD meta-analyses.European thyroid journal · 2025Article
- Combining Procalcitonin and Calcitonin for the Diagnosis of Medullary Thyroid Cancer: A Two-Step Approach.Clinical endocrinology · 2025Article
- Article
- Diagnostic challenges in calcitonin negative medullary thyroid carcinoma: a systematic review of 101 cases.Gland surgery · 2024Review
- Article
- The role of [18F]F-DOPA PET/CT in diagnostic and prognostic assessment of medullary thyroid cancer: a 15-year experience with 109 patients.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- Calcitonin: current concepts and differential diagnosis.Therapeutic advances in endocrinology and metabolism · 2022Review
- Basal and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin cut-off values in diagnosis of preoperative medullary thyroid cancerTurkish journal of medical sciences · 2021Article
- Medullary thyroid carcinoma: recent advances in identification, treatment, and prognosis.Therapeutic advances in endocrinology and metabolism · 2021Review
- Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Do Ultrasonography and F-DOPA-PET-CT Influence the Initial Surgical Strategy?Annals of surgical oncology · 2018Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPentagastrin (Pg) stimulated calcitonin (sCT) was used to enhance accuracy in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) diagnosis. As it is now unavailable, calcium (Ca) has been recommended as an alternative. The aim of this study was to define gender-specific cut-off values to predict MTC in patients with elevated basal CT (bCT) following Pg-sCT and Ca-sCT stimulation and to compare the time courses of CT release during stimulation. MATERIALS AND
methodsThe stimulation tests were applied in 62 consecutive patients with thyroid nodules. Basal calcitonin was measured by chemiluminescent immunometric assay. All patients underwent thyroidectomy and bilateral central neck dissection. C-cell pathology was confirmed by histological and immunohistochemical evaluation.
resultsIn 39 (0.63) patients MTC was documented while isolated C-cell hyperplasia (CCH) was identified in 23 (0.37) patients. Medullary thyroid cancer was predicted in males with bCT values > 43 pg/mL or sCT concentrations > 470 pg/mL (Pg-sCT) or > 1500 pg/mL (Ca-sCT), and in females with bCT concentrations > 23 pg/mL or sCT concentrations > 200 pg/mL (Pg-sCT) or > 780 pg/mL (Ca-sCT), respectively. Pg-sCT correctly predicted MTC in 16 (0.66) compared to 13 (0.54) after Ca-sCT in males and in 12 (0.80) compared to 11 (0.73) in females; without statistical significance. In patients with CCH or low tumor burden, there was a tendency of faster CT release after Ca stimulation (CT peak after 3min in > 60%) compared to patients with advanced MTC (CT peak after 3min in < 10%).
conclusionsUsing gender-specific cut-off values, Ca could replace Pg to predict MTC with similar diagnostic power.
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