Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33101736›Full record

ArticleCase reports in endocrinology2020

Unstimulated Serum Thyroglobulin Levels after Thyroidectomy and Radioiodine Therapy for Intermediate-Risk Thyroid Cancer Are Not Always a Reliable Marker of Lymph Node Recurrence: Case Report and a Lesson for Clinicians.

Luca Foppiani, Simona Sola, Manlio Cabria, Gianluca Bottoni, Arnoldo Piccardo

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Case reports in endocrinology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 39% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Luca FoppianiInternal Medicine, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3476-6875
Simona SolaDepartment of Pathology, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
Manlio CabriaNuclear Medicine, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
Gianluca BottoniNuclear Medicine, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
Arnoldo PiccardoNuclear Medicine, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
Ente Ospedaliero Ospedali Galliera · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Over 50% of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) have cervical lymph-node metastasis on diagnosis, and up to 30% show nodal recurrence after surgery plus radioactive iodine (131I) (RAI) therapy. The combination of ultrasonography (US) and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and the measurement of thyroglobulin (Tg) in washout fluid are cornerstones in the diagnosis of nodal metastasis. In the absence of anti-Tg antibodies, unstimulated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels are generally a reliable marker of recurrent disease, and 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) plays an important role in the imaging work-up. We report the case of a 65-year-old man evaluated for a large multinodular goitre which caused compressive symptoms; the dominant nodule in the left lobe presented suspicious features on US. Thyroid function showed subclinical hypothyroidism, calcitonin was normal, serum thyroglobulin levels were low, and anti-thyroid antibodies were absent. The prevalent left nodule showed an intense uptake on 18F-FDG PET/CT but proved benign at FNAC. On the basis of the suspicious clinical and imaging features, total thyroidectomy was performed. Histology revealed a tall-cell variant of PTC with scattered expression of Tg and diffuse high expression of cytokeratin (CK) 19; RAI therapy was performed. Within 6 years of surgery, left laterocervical lymph-node recurrence was twice detected (first at levels II and III, then at levels IV and VI) by US and 18F-FDG-PET/CT and was confirmed by FNAC. Tg levels in the washout fluid proved clearly diagnostic of metastasis only in the second, larger, recurrence, whereas serum Tg levels (in the absence of anti-Tg antibodies) always remained undetectable on L-thyroxine therapy. Surgery was performed on both recurrences, and histology confirmed lymph-node metastasis of PTC. Immunohistochemical expression of Tg and CK 19 was similar to that of the primary tumour. No further relapses have occurred to date. Posttherapy (surgery and RAI) unstimulated serum Tg levels may not be a reliable marker of nodal recurrence in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) that produces low amounts of Tg.

Identifiers

PMID33101736
PMCPMC7568143
OpenAlexW3092097730

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.