To screen or not to screen for medullary thyroid cancer? This is (yet) the question. An illustrative case.

Rosaria Ruggeri, Luca Giovannella, Francesco Trimarchi, Alfredo Campennì

Abstract


Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a rare disease, often displaying an aggressive behavior and a poor prognosis. Serum calcitonin represents the most sensitive marker of MTC and its routine measurement in patients with thyroid nodules allows early detection of occult MTC and appropriate surgical cure.Here we report on a 55-yr-old woman with a long-standing goiter, autonomously functioning thyroid nodules and subclinical thyrotoxicosis, who was diagnosed with MTC at an early stage by means of calcitoninscreening. This rare case highlights the importance of performing routine calcitonin measurementin thyroid nodules.

Keywords


medullary thyroid cancer; calcitonin- thyroid nodules

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/1828-6550/APMB.106.2.2018.A1

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Copyright (c) 2018 Rosaria Ruggeri, Luca Giovannella, Francesco Trimarchi, Alfredo Campennì

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