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Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a reliable marker for detecting recurrence in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients, but frequently occurring Tg antibodies (TgAbs) can hinder accurate measurement. We aimed to develop a preanalytical protocol for precise Tg detection in TgAb presence using the immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) platform. This study involved forty-five patients who underwent IRMA Tg and radioimmunoassay (RIA) TgAb measurements, including two patients monitored for recurrence and one with confirmed recurrence. All three had undetectable Tg levels. We evaluated three preanalytical methods in aiming to separate Tg from TgAbs: buffer only (Protocol 1), micro-spin filters only (Protocol 2), and a combination of both (Protocol 3). All preanalytical protocols showed high concordance with the original test (r = 0.981, 0.985, 0.971, respectively, p < 0.001), regardless of TgAb values. Protocols 1 and 3 yielded higher Tg levels than the original test (p < 0.001), especially in the group with a high TgAb titer. Protocol 1 managed to detect Tg in two patients under follow up with initially unmeasurable Tg and high TgAb titers and in one confirmed recurrent case. Sample pre-processing positively influenced Tg detection in TgAb-positive cases. These preanalytical approaches show promise, but further testing with larger sample sizes and more investigated conditions is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) generally has a good prognosis, but in a subset of patients it progresses to aggressive forms. Analysis of molecular alterations in relation to clinical phenotype may help in risk stratification of patients by predicting tumor aggressiveness. We analyzed the expression profiles of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) using immunohistochemistry and the presence of BRAF(V600E) mutation by mutant allele-specific PCR in PTC tissue samples (n=92) in relation to clinicopathological parameters. BRAFV600E was detected in 46.7% of patients and correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (LNM, p=0.035) and extrathyroid invasion (EI, p

In order to enhance the risk stratification of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients, we assessed the presence of the most common mutation in PTC (BRAFV600E) with the expression profiles of long non-coding RNA activated by BRAFV600E (BANCR) and microRNAs, which share complementarity with BANCR (miR-203a-3p and miR-204-3p), and thereafter correlated it with several clinicopathological features of PTC. BRAFV600E was detected by mutant allele-specific PCR amplification. BANCR and miRs levels were determined by quantitative RT-PCR. Bioinformatic analysis was applied to determine the miRs' targets. The expression profile of miR-203a-3p/204-3p in PTC was not affected by BRAFV600E. In the BRAFV600E-positive PTC, high expression of miR-203a-3p correlated with extrathyroidal invasion (Ei), but the patients with both high miR-203a-3p and upregulated BANCR were not at risk of Ei. In the BRAFV600E-negative PTC, low expression of miR-204-3p correlated with Ei, intraglandular dissemination and pT status (p < 0.05), and the mutual presence of low miR-204-3p and upregulated BANCR increased the occurrence of Ei. Bioinformatic analysis predicted complementary binding between miR-203a-3p/204-3p and BANCR. The co-occurrence of tested factors might influence the spreading of PTC. These findings partially describe the complicated network of interactions that may occur during the development of PTC aggressiveness, potentially providing a new approach for high-risk PTC patient selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]