Tumor Abnormal Protein as a Novel Biomarker in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Abstract

High level of serum tumor abnormal protein (TAP) may be useful in early diagnosis of cancers. This study aims to investigate the diagnostic value of TAP in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Abnormal sugar chain glycoproteins from peripheral blood of 139 patients with PTC, 39 patients with benign thyroid nodular and 35 healthy individuals were used. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to evaluate diagnostic value of tumor abnormal protein (TAP). Moreover, the relationship between TAP value and its clinical characteristics was further analyzed. TAP level was significantly higher in PTC patients than in benign thyroid nodular patients or healthy individuals (p < 0.001). We also noted that TAP level was associated with multifocus (p = 0.015), but not associated with other clinical characteristics such as age, gender, tumor size, and extra-thyroidal extension. Based on the area under ROC curve of 0.849 (95% CI: 0.795 - 0.893), the cutoff value of TAP is 122.6 μm2 and the sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of PTC is 79.2% and 86.5%, respectively. TAP may be a novel biomarker for PTC and be useful in the adjuvant diagnosis of PTC.