title: [Thyroglobulin mRNA amplification in peripheral blood of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma: what does it really mean?].
abstract: Despite the excellent prognosis, differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) may recur in 20-40%, and prognosis is particularly related to early detection of recurrent disease. Therefore, long-term follow-up with sensitive tests is need. Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) has an established role as a tumor marker of relapse. However, there are technical limitations of Tg immunoassays, in special, the interference of anti-Tg antibodies and the method sensitivity is dependent on TSH stimulation. Detection of circulating malignant cells by amplification of tumor-specific mRNA showed initial promising results. However, almost one decade of studies of Tg mRNA detection in peripheral blood, its real contribution for DTC follow-up had not yet been established. After a critical analysis of published data, it is clear that there are many protocol differences and conflicting results. Therefore, it seems that amplification of thyroid-specific mRNAs is not superior to sensitive Tg assays and illegitimate transcription and alternative splicing of Tg are factors that may influence mRNA test specificity.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Potiguara 325/104, 22750-290 Rio de Janeiro, RJ. sabrinacoelho@globo.com
authors.forename: Sabrina Mendes
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaisman
authors.forename: Denise Pires
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013954:Thyroglobulin