title: Undetectable serum thyroglobulin in a patient with metastatic follicular thyroid cancer.
abstract: The case of a 54-year-old woman with metastatic follicular thyroid cancer and undetectable serum thyroglobulin is presented. Many years after the patient had a subtotal thyroidectomy for a large goiter that had no clear evidence of malignancy, metastatic bone disease developed. When the bone metastases were detected and during the follow-up period, serum thyroglobulin values remained undetectable, but radioiodine uptake in the metastases was abundant. This case indicates that the combination of 1-131 scintigraphy and serum thyroglobulin values is superior to the measurement of serum thyroglobulin alone in detecting well-differentiated, metastatic thyroid cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: De Klerk
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Zelissen
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Thijssen
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sie-Go
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Van Rijk
mesh_terms: D018263:Adenocarcinoma, Follicular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000097:blood*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D013954:Thyroglobulin