Blood Test for Thyroid Cancer

A blood test for thyroid cancer can detect persistent or recurrent disease before any trace of a tumor, an Ohio State University study found.

The study, by the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, examined how well a test for thyroid cancer can predict whether the disease will recur.

The test measures a protein known as thyroglobulin, or Tg, which is made by thyroid-cancer cells. The measurement is taken after a person is injected with a relatively new drug known as thyrotropin alfa, or Thyrogen.

The drug allows Tg testing without the sometimes debilitating side effects of hypothyroidism that otherwise accompany the test when stimulation testing is done.

We were surprised to find that even with relatively low thyroglobulin levels, and even when there is no sign of a tumor, about 80 percent of patients had a recurrence of their cancer within three to five years, says study author Richard T. Kloos.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, suggest people treated for the disease should be examined regularly for early signs of recurrence.