When cytopathology suggests a medullary thyroid carcinoma, serum calcitonin, pro-calcitonin, carcinoembryonic antigen and calcitonin-gene-related peptide should be measured to identify cases of calcitonin-negative medullary thyroid carcinoma.
Metastatic disease is common in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and it is usually detected by raising calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels.
We describe a case of MTC involving a mass 7 cm in its largest dimension, associated with high Ctn concentrations (> 5,000 pg/mL), but normal carcinoembryonic antigen levels, and with no lymph nodes or distant metastases, in complete remission after thyroid surgery.
High sensitivity of pretargeted immunoscintigraphy using murine or chimeric anti-CEA BsMAb and pretargeted haptens-peptides labeled with <sup>111</sup>In or <sup>131</sup>I were reported in metastatic MTC patients 20 years ago.
This is a retrospective cohort study.Review of 51 FDG PET/CT studies of 45 patients referred to restage MTC due to increased calcitonin (Ctn) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) values at follow-up.
In addition, the preoperative (50.2 ± 76.7 vs. 7.4 ± 6.8, p = 0.001) and postoperative serum levels of CEA (13.2 ± 19.5 vs. 1.3 ± 1.6, p < 0.01) in MTC patients with RET mutations were significantly higher than those in MTC patients without RET mutation (p < 0.05).
The cytological analysis raised the suspicion of medullary thyroid carcinoma; however, calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen levels were in reference range.
The increase in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels correlated with the increase in basal serum calcitonin (Ct) levels according to Pearson correlation analysis in patients with MTC without surgery.
FoxA1 discriminates between medullary thyroid carcinoma and tumors of follicular derivation with sensitivity and specificity greater than calcitonin and CEA; therefore, it may serve as a reliable ancillary marker for the diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma because of its reliably uniform quality of staining.
Diagnostic utility of PET/CT with <sup>18</sup>F-DOPA and <sup>18</sup>F-FDG in persistent or recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma: the importance of calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen cutoff.
CEA = carcinoembryonic antigen CT = computed tomography <sup>18</sup>F-FDG = <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose MTC = medullary thyroid cancer PET = positron emission tomography PVE = proportion of variance explained sCT = serum calcitonin SUV = standard uptake value US = ultrasound.
In patients with well founded suspicious of MTC and within the reference limits/undetectable CT other laboratory investigations [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), procalcitonin, CT stimulation, CT in washout of nodule's aspiration] have to be performed.
A 38-year-old woman with a thyroid nodule measuring approximately 2 cm was suspected to have medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) because of markedly elevated serum calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen levels.
During follow-up for patients with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), the levels of serum calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen are important, and the doubling time of these biomarkers significantly correlates with disease progression.
We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical record for patterns of calcitonin, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and tumor measurement responses in consecutive patients with MTC who received treatment with a RET inhibitor for at least 6 months.
So far, differential diagnosis is solved with the help of some markers that are frequently expressed in medullary thyroid carcinoma (thyroid transcription factor 1, calcitonin, and carcinoembryonic antigen).
After total thyroidectomy, measurements of serum calcitonin (CT) and carcinoembryonic antigen are of paramount importance in the postsurgical follow-up of patients with MTC as they reflect the presence of persistent or recurrent disease.
Comparative toxicity and efficacy of combined radioimmunotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy in carcinoembryonic antigen-expressing medullary thyroid cancer xenograft.