A New Perspective on Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibody Patterns in the Follow-Up of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Endocrinology Research and Practice, cilt.29, sa.4, ss.320-326, 2025 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 29 Sayı: 4
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.5152/erp.2025.25767
- Dergi Adı: Endocrinology Research and Practice
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.320-326
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, papillary thyroid carcinoma, recurrence
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: This study aimed to describe distinct anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) trend trends and assess their association with clinical outcomes in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: Twenty-two PTC patients with TgAb positivity (at diagnosis, postoperative follow-up, or post-Radioidoine (RAI) were retrospectively analyzed, classified into classical (declining/stable/increasing) and nonclassical trend groups, and their clinical and outcome data was reviewed. Results: Classical TgAb patterns were observed in 14 patients (63.6%), including 12 with a declining pattern (median time to seronegativity: 20 months, range: 12-48) and 2 with persistently stable positivity. Among those with decreasing TgAb, 2 patients had previously experienced structural recurrence, both accompanied by transient TgAb rises. In the stable subgroup, 1 patient had persistent but subcentimetric nodal disease without progression. Nonclassical patterns were identified in 8 patients (36.4%), distributed across 4 distinct scenarios: (1) Persistently very high TgAb remaining undetectable without structural disease (n = 2), lasting ≥3 years, (2) transient de novo TgAb positivity following radioiodine treatment (RAIT) (n = 2), with spontaneous decline to negativity within 12-18 months, (3) late-onset de novo TgAb after RAIT, remaining stable without structural disease (n = 2), remaining stable (up to 5 years) without evidence of disease, (4) de novo TgAb rising with recurrence (n = 2), 1 presenting with nodal relapse and the other with pulmonary metastases, both showing TgAb decline after treatment. Conclusion: In PTC follow-up, TgAb trends were more informative than absolute levels: transient elevations and de novo stable or persistently stable TgAb were less likely to indicate structural disease, whereas de novo rising TgAb strongly suggested recurrence. However, given the small, single-center cohort and retrospective design, these findings require confirmation in larger prospective studies.