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Serum thyroglobulin testing after thyroid lobectomy in patients with 1–4 cm papillary thyroid carcinoma

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Abstract

Background

The role of measuring serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels in patients who have undergone lobectomy has not been proven. The goal of this research is to see if serum Tg levels can predict the recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) after lobectomy.

Methods

The 463 patients with 1–4 cm PTC who underwent lobectomy between January 2005 and December 2012, were included in this retrospective cohort study. Postoperative serum Tg levels and neck ultrasound were evaluated every 6–12 months after lobectomy during a median 7.8-year follow-up period. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and its area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to assess the diagnostic performance of serum Tg levels.

Results

During the follow-up, the structural recurrent disease was confirmed in 30 patients (6.5%). The serum Tg levels measured by initial Tg, maximal Tg, and last Tg did not differ statistically between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups. According to our findings, serial patterns of serum maximal Tg variations in 30 patients with recurrence showed no obvious trend and no rising trend toward recurrence before detecting recurrence. The AUC was 54.5% (IQR 43.1%–65.9%) in the ROC curve analysis, indicating that it was not significantly different from the random classifier.

Conclusion

Serum Tg levels did not differ significantly between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups, and there was no tendency for the recurrence group to increase Tg levels. In patients with PTC who underwent lobectomy, monitoring Tg levels regularly provides little benefit in predicting recurrence.

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Acknowledgements

A part of this study was presented at the annual meeting of the Korean Thyroid Association, 2022.

Author contributions

A.J. contributed to data collection, data analysis, visualization, interpretation of the results, and wrote the manuscript. M.J., C.A.K., Y.M.L., and T.Y.S. contributed to data collection, and data curation, and reviewed the manuscript. W.B.K. and Y.K.S. provided critical input on the data analysis, reviewed the manuscript, and contributed to the discussion. M.J.J. and T.Y.K. contributed to the design of the study, data collection, and interpretation of the results. W.G.K. contributed to the conception and design of the study, data curation, interpretation of the data, and editing of the manuscript. All the authors had full access to the data, takes responsibility for the accuracy of the data analysis, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by a grant (2022IP0011) from Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea

    Ahreum Jang, Meihua Jin, Chae A Kim, Min Ji Jeon, Tae Yong Kim, Won Bae Kim, Young Kee Shong & Won Gu Kim

  2. Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea

    Yu-Mi Lee & Tae-Yon Sung

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  1. Ahreum Jang
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Correspondence to Won Gu Kim.

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Jang, A., Jin, M., Kim, C.A. et al. Serum thyroglobulin testing after thyroid lobectomy in patients with 1–4 cm papillary thyroid carcinoma. Endocrine 81, 290–297 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03346-2

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