Can Routine Laboratory Tests Be Suggestive in Determining Suspicions of Malignancy in the Case of Thyroid Nodules?

Background and objectives: Thyroid nodules are a common finding in clinical practice and can be either benign or malignant. The aim of this study was to compare laboratory parameters between patients with malignant thyroid nodules and those with benign thyroid nodules. Materials and methods: A total of 845 patients were included, with 251 in the study group (malignant thyroid nodules) and 594 in the control group (benign thyroid nodules). Results: Our results show that there were statistically significant differences in several laboratory parameters, including FT3, FT4, ESR, fibrinogen, WBC, and lymphocyte percentage, between the two patient groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that certain laboratory parameters may be useful in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules and could aid in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer. However, further diagnostic tests such as fine-needle aspiration biopsy and imaging studies are typically required for an accurate diagnosis. Routine laboratory tests prove most effective when combined with other diagnostic methods to identify thyroid cancer. Although not conclusive on their own, these tests significantly suggest and guide physicians to suspect malignancy in thyroid nodules. This affirmative answer to our question, "Can routine laboratory tests be suggestive in determining suspicions of malignancy in the case of thyroid nodules?" aligns with the results of our study.

Bone turnover markers in postmenopausal osteoporosis and their correlation with bone mineral density and menopause duration.

BACKGROUND: Biochemical bone turnover markers (BTMs) estimates the bone remodeling process, being valuable in the personalized approach of osteoporotic patients. AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between biochemical BTMs and bone mineral density (BMD), depending on menopause period, in postmenopausal osteoporotic women, compared to postmenopausal women without osteoporosis. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 149 untreated postmenopausal women, divided into three groups: group 1 (65 osteoporotic women with less than 10 years of menopause), group 2 (44 osteoporotic patients, with over 10 years of menopause), and the control group with 40 postmenopausal women without osteoporosis. RESULTS: All BTMs levels were higher in the groups with osteoporosis, than in the control group. Lumbar BMD values correlated positively with deoxypyridinoline (DPD) and negatively with bone-specific isoform of alkaline phosphatase (BAP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase band 5b (TRAP 5b), osteocalcin (OC) and cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen (NTX). Serum estradiol levels correlated positively with spine BMD in the whole study group (r=0.508, p=0.001). BTMs correlated positively with each other. Osteoporotic women with longer period of menopause presented significantly higher values of resorption markers (NTX and TRAP 5b), compared to the group with menopause duration less than 10 years. At a cutoff value of 12 µg∕L, BAP presented 82.4% sensitivity and 62.5% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that BTMs correlated negatively with lumbar BMD and positively with each other. Resorption markers levels increase with duration of estradiol deprivation period.

The absence of CD56 expression can differentiate papillary thyroid carcinoma from other thyroid lesions.

CONTEXT: The neural cell adhesion molecule CD56 is an antigen important for the differentiation of the follicular epithelium. Recent studies have reported low or absent expression of CD56 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and its presence in normal thyroid tissue, benign thyroid lesions, and most follicular non-PTC tumors. AIM: We wish to estimate the value of CD56 in the differentiation of PTC (including follicular variant-PTC [FV-PTC]) from other nontumoral lesions and follicular thyroid neoplasias. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a retrospective, case-control study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We analyzed the expression of CD56 in normal thyroid follicular tissue, 15 nonneoplastic thyroid lesions (nodular hyperplasia, Graves' disease, and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis/Hashimoto), and 38 thyroid follicular cell neoplasms (25 cases of PTC). The immunohistochemical reactions were performed on sections stained with anti-CD56 antibody. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: We used the Chi-square test, values of P< 0.05 being considered statistically significant. Risk analysis was applied on these studied groups, by calculating the odds ratio (OR) value. RESULTS: Our results indicated that CD56 immunoexpression had differentiated PTC from benign nonneoplastic lesions (P = 0.002), as well as from follicular neoplasias (P = 0.046). There were no significant differences regarding CD56 expression between FV-PTC and classical PTC (P = 0.436). The immunoexpression of CD56 has differentiated PTC from other thyroid non-PTC lesions (P < 0.001), with 26.4 OR value. CONCLUSIONS: CD56 has been proved to be a useful marker in the diagnosis of PTC, including FV-PTC. Its absence can help differentiate FV-PTC from other thyroid nodules with follicular patterns.