The Reporter: February 1997, Vol.8, No.1
Research Notes
Test for Metastatic Thyroid Cancer

CPMC researchers have developed a simple blood test that can identify postoperative thyroid cancer patients at risk for metastatic disease. Details of the test appear in the December 1996 issue of the journal Surgery.

The test involves a technique called reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that allows for isolation of minute amounts of genetic material (messenger RNA), transcription of the material into DNA, and then cloning of enough copies that can be detected using standardized tests. In this application, RT-PCR is used to isolate and clone the mRNA for thyroglobulin, a protein secreted only by thyroid cells. Normally, thyroid cells are found only in the thyroid gland, so finding thyroglobulin RNA in the peripheral blood would indicate that thyroid cells are being shed from metastatic tumors. Unlike existing tests for metastatic thyroid cancer, the RT-PCR test is simple, inexpensive, and accurate. Further research on the test is in progress.