The correlation between preoperative serum thyroglobulin and pathological features of thyroid follicular carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: To explore more meaningful information for making individualized medical decisions for patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC), we investigated the correlations between pathological features of FTC and preoperative serum markers, including thyroglobulin (Tg), anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4), and fT3/fT4 ratio.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 82 patients with FTC. Data collected included demographics (sex and age), pathological features (infiltration extent, tumor stage, presence of multifocal FTC, and presence of concomitant PTC), and preoperative serum markers (Tg, TgAb, TPOAb, TSH, fT3, fT4, and fT3/fT4 ratio). The correlations between preoperative serum markers and pathological features were analyzed.Results:72.0% patients were female. Mean age was 46.4±16.5 years. In univariate analysis, older age (≥55 years) was associated with non-minimally invasive (P=0.016), larger (>T2 category, P=0.006), and multifocal (P=0.034) FTC; elevated preoperative serum Tg level (≥500.00 ng/mL) was associated with non-minimally invasive (P=0.015) and larger (>T2 category, P=0.001) FTC; higher fT3/fT4 ratio (≥0.541) was associated with multifocal FTC (P=0.031). In multivariable analysis, Tg ≥500.00 ng/mL was an independent risk factor for non-minimally invasive FTC [P=0.015, OR=3.289 (1.260-8.583)] and for >T2 category FTC [P=0.001, OR=5.397 (1.963-14.840)]; older age [≥55 years, P=0.045, OR=4.756 (1.037-21.818)] and higher fT3\fT4 ratio [≥0.541, P=0.044, OR=4.626 (1.043-20.525)] was an independent risk factor multifocal FTC, respectively.Conclusions: Preoperative serum Tg was correlated with the local tumor extent and primary tumor diameter of FTC. Further research regarding the utility of preoperative serum Tg in FTC is still needed.