Evaluation of Vitamin D3 levels and dietary management in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D (VitD) plays various roles, promotes musculoskeletal health, maintains parathyroid hormone levels and supports the immune processes. Vitamin D deficiency is common among cancer patients including thyroid cancer. Since some data indicate that preoperative VitD levels in cancer patients correlate with the further prognosis of the disease. Therefore, it is worthwhile to investigate this in the most common cancer of the thyroid gland, papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The aim of this study was to evaluate serum VitD levels in patients with PTC concerning age, gender, body mass index (BMI), cancer stage, thyroid hormone levels, thyroglobulin concentration and the efficiency of VitD3 supplementation in these patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Our cross-sectional study included 105 patients, and 34 healthy subjects in the control group. After 12 weeks of VitD3 supplementation (insufficient patients received1000IJ/day, deficient patients 2000IJ/day, severe deficient patient 5000IJ/day) along with the lifestyle and dietary management, the response was evaluated according to the personal characteristics, levels of VitD, free thyroxine (FT4), freetriiodothyronine (FT3) hormones and thyroglobulin (TG). RESULTS: The responders whose median age was 61-year-old, were mostly women (94%), with BMI below 23.7kg/m3, which indicates that most of the patients were normally nourished. 70% of patients were in the first stage of PTC, 76% had a vitamin D deficiency, while musculoskeletal disorders were present in 30% patients. VitD supplementation improved serum VitD status, FT3 discretely elevated and the TG levels significantly decreased in our PTC patients. CONCLUSION: It should be noted that VitD deficiency is presented in 70% of patients with PTC in our study sample. Dietary recommendation applied as lifestyle changes along with oral VitD3 supplementation, corrected VitD status to the recommended serum level. Although the data from our study is not sufficient to evaluate the VitD level as a prognostic factor for cancer, we have shown that it is necessary to examine its level along with an individual dietary approach for each patient with PTC.

Parathyroid dual tracer subtraction scintigraphy: small regions method for quantitative assessment of parathyroid adenoma uptake.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was quantitative assessment of parathyroid adenoma (PTA) uptake in dual tracer dynamic scintigraphy. METHODS: In 78 patients, median age 58 (19-80) years, surgically treated for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), with parathyroid hormone median 125 (70-658) pg/ml, we performed preoperative parathyroid scintigraphy, following EANM guidelines of subtraction and double-phase protocol (2009) using two tracers: Tc-99m pertechnetate and Tc-99m MIBI. In addition to standard subtraction processing and visual interpretation of delayed MIBI planar images of neck and mediastinum in oblique sections (positions according to ultrasound PTA localisation), we developed Submarine processing software that enables selecting custom regions grid sizes ≥6 mm (as this solution was not present in commercial software) to follow time activity curve changes in thyroid tissue and PTA. Histopathology in 53/78 patients revealed PHPT and in 25/78 patients thyroid nodular disease only, and thyroid malignancy occurred in total of 15/78 (19 %) patients. PHPT group included 44 solitary PTA, 8 patients with hyperplasia and one parathyroid carcinoma. The median macroscopic volume of PTA was 717.5 (15-6125) mm(3). Concomitant PHPT and thyroid nodular disease occurred in 24/53 patients and among them 8 patients had thyroid malignancies. RESULTS: PTA showed typical pattern of late peak on time activity curves characterized by median start time on 15 (10-25) min, the peak amplitude mean 19 (±5) % above thyroid declining washout curve, and duration of peak 6 (4-10) min, allowing PTA to "emerge" like submarine, independent from thyroid tissue and lesions. The ratio of PTA-to-normal thyroid uptake at peak maximum was 1.35 (±0.21). The thyroid TACs results of normal 29/78 (37 %) patients, benign nodular 34/78 (44 %) patients, and malignancy in 15 (19 %) patients were all presented by declining exponential curves. The slope analysis of TACs in normal thyroid tissue, thyroid benign and malignant lesions (linear fitted logarithm of TAC) showed no difference (the same negative slope: -0.04). Submarine processing was sensitive in detection of small lesions, in hyperplasia, and concomitant thyroid nodular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The novel Submarine processing confirmed specific PHPT pattern and was effective in the group with potential pitfalls of standard interpretation, increasing sensitivity and specificity of standard processing subtraction algorithm. Prolonged MIBI accumulation was present in malignant as well as benign thyroid nodules with identical TAC slope.

Radioimmunoscintigraphy of colorectal carcinomas with 99mTc-labelled antibodies.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of the study was the evaluation of the clinical validity of immunoscintigraphy with 99mTc labeled antibodies for the detection of metastases and recurrences of colorectal carcinomas. METHODOLOGY: We examined 17 patients with colorectal carcinomas. Scintigraphy was performed with anti-CEA MoAb 99mTc-BW 431/26. RESULTS: Recurrences of carcinomas were detected and confirmed by surgery in 6 patients, recurrences with liver metastasis in 5 patients, and only liver metastases in 3 patients. Planar immunoscintigraphy was positive in 5/8 patients with liver metastases and 8/11 patients with recurrences, whereas in 1/8 liver metastases and 3/11 recurrences were detected only by tomography. In two patients with metastases in the abdominal lymph nodes immunoscintigraphic findings both on planar scintigraphy and tomoscintigraphy were false negative. CONCLUSIONS: Immunoscintigraphy with 99mTc labeled antibodies can be useful in the diagnosis of recurrences and metastases of colorectal carcinoma, viability assessment after radiotherapy and in the choice of the adequate surgical treatment.