Nova plataforma diagnóstica para auxiliar na detecção do câncer de tireóide

Abstract

Ultrasound-guided Fine Needle Aspiration (USG-FNA) followed by cytological examination is a common procedure performed for diagnosis of thyroid nodules. However, 10 to 30% of the cases present indeterminate results, requiring the use of US-guided core needle biopsies. In the present work we evaluated the performance of the CaT12 biomarker, previously identified as a marker of malignant thyroid tumors, to aid in the detection of carcinomas in fragments of thyroid nodules through Flow Cytometry. Results were compared with histopathological analyses, and diagnostic tests were performed to evaluate the marker's ability to distinguish malignant tissues. Previous flow cytometric analyzes of the marker with tumor cell lines were optimized and indicated that cell labeling without permeabilization was adequate for tumor detection. Subsequently, the biopsies were processed and submitted to digestion with collagenase prior to labeling and detection. Twenty-nine samples from patients with thyroid nodules submitted to USG-FNB were collected. After detection of tumor cells, cut-off value was calculated and positivity was established. Diagnostic parameters present sensitivity of 86.67%, specificity of 78.57%, and accuracy of 82.76%, much higher than the accuracy presented by the histopathology (75.8%), and USG-FNB (53.5%) analysis. Our results suggest that the novel technology can be used in the analyses of biopsies without depending on cytological or histological parameters, and may lead us to a paradigm shift for the diagnosis of thyroid cancer.