SynthesisEndocrine2022
Head-to-head comparison of FNA cytology vs. calcitonin measurement in FNA washout fluids (FNA-CT) to diagnose medullary thyroid carcinoma. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Endocrine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 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
- 2023 European Thyroid Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for thyroid nodule management.European thyroid journal · 2023Guideline
- Prevalence and significance of indeterminate calcitonin values in patients with thyroid nodules: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Suboptimal accuracy of ultrasound and ultrasound-based risk stratification systems in detecting medullary thyroid carcinoma should not be overlooked. Findings from a systematic review with meta-analysis.Clinical endocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Primary synovial sarcoma of the thyroid mimicking medullary thyroid cancer.JCEM case reports · 2026Article
- Beyond Tumor Diameter: Exploratory Cohort-Derived Calcitonin Secretory Categories and Invasive Pathology in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- A Rare Collision Medullary and Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Autoimmune Thyroid Disease: Case Report.Oncology research · 2026Article
- How to manage medullary thyroid carcinoma: current treatment strategies.Drugs in context · 2026Review
- Combining Procalcitonin and Calcitonin for the Diagnosis of Medullary Thyroid Cancer: A Two-Step Approach.Clinical endocrinology · 2025Article
- The diagnostic challenges of medullary thyroid carcinoma: A practical guide for cytopathologists.Cancer cytopathology · 2025Review
- Clinicopathological characteristics, prognosis, and the significance of FNA-CT in sporadic medullary thyroid microcarcinoma: a 10-year retrospective study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- The role of hormone dosages in the assessment of cervical lesions by FNA: A descriptive analysis of 762 cases.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2025Review
- Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, and Diagnosis of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer · 2025Review
- What Is New in Diagnostics and Management of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer · 2025Review
- Performance of ACR-TIRADS in assessing thyroid nodules does not vary according to patient age.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Article
- Appropriate and mindful measurement of serum calcitonin in patients with thyroid nodules. A white paper.Endocrine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe sensitivity of cytology after fine needle aspiration (FNA-cytology) in detecting medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is low. To overcome this problem, measuring calcitonin (CT) in washout fluid of FNA (FNA-CT) has been largely diffused and showed good performance. However, no evidence-based study exists comparing systematically the sensitivity of FNA-cytology and FNA-CT. This study aimed to systematically review the literature and collect data allowing a head-to-head comparison meta-analysis between FNA-cytology and FNA-CT in detecting MTC lesions.
methodsThe online databases of PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus were searched until June 2021. Original articles reporting the use of both FNA-cytology and FNA-CT in the same series of histologically proven MTC lesions were included They were extracted general features of each study, number of MTC lesions (nodule and neck lymph nodes), and true positive and false negatives of both FNA-cytology and FNA-CT.
resultsSix studies were included. The sensitivity of FNA-cytology varied from 20% to 86% with a pooled value of 54% (95% CI 35-73%) and significant heterogeneity. The sensitivity of FNA-CT was higher than 95% in almost all studies with a pooled value of 98% (95% CI 96-100%) without heterogeneity. The sensitivity of FNA-CT was significantly higher than that of FNA-cytology.
conclusionsFNA-CT is significantly more sensitive than FNA-cytology in detecting MTC. Accordingly, FNA-CT represents the standard method to use in patients with suspicious MTC lesions, combined with cytology.
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Registered trials
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.