title: Serum Galectin-3: diagnostic value for papillary thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Thyroid cancer constitutes approximately 1% of all cancers, approximately 90% of the endocrine malignancies, and is responsible for 0.4% of cancer-related deaths. Additional markers are required for the accurate diagnosis of thyroid malignancies. There is no marker that can accurately facilitate pre-operative benign-malignant differentiation of thyroid nodules. The present study aims to evaluate the diagnostic value of preoperative serum Galectin-3 levels in thyroid cancer and to avoid unnecessary aggressive interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-four patients who were operated between May 2009 and April 2011 were included in this study prospectively. Patients with toxic nodules and those with malignancies detected in preoperative fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) were excluded. Patients with thyroid nodules of >3 cm in ultrasonography or having suspicious cytological findings in their preoperative FNABs regardless of the nodule size were included. Patients were divided into 2 groups, "control"and "cancer," according to the postoperative pathology results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The control group included 50 and cancer group included 14 patients. The mean age of the control group was 44.84±13.17 (19-79), while it was 44.14±15.94 (25-72) in the cancer group. A statistically significant difference was found between Galectin-3 levels in the cancer and control groups (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study, serum Galectin-3 levels in patients with malignant nodules were statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Çekirge State Hospital, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Ataşehir Memorial Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karşıdağ
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Besni State Hospital, Adıyaman, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cihad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tatar
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Haseki Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sefa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tüzün
keywords: Cancer; Galectin-3; serum biomarkers; thyroid