Thyroglobulin: a specific serum marker for the management of thyroid carcinoma

Thyroid carcinomas of follicular cell origin are the most common endocrine neoplasms. Most tumors exhibit specific differentiated functions, including responsiveness to thyrotropin, concentration of iodide, and release of thyroglobulin. Although each of these functions can be used for diagnostic and therapeutic efforts, it is critical to discern the technical and clinical features that provide confidence in their diagnostic reliability. Thyroglobulin assays have unique and important characteristics that affect their clinical usefulness and interpretation. Likewise, diagnostic strategies that use them must reflect their strengths and limitations, including the common problem with antithyroglobulin autoantibodies. New approaches that use reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction detection of mRNA in circulating tumor cells have their own unique problems, which have prevented their widespread clinical adoption.