Uso della procalcitonina come marker del carcinoma midollare tiroideo

Abstract

Here we reviewed the literature on the use of procalcitonin (PCT), a precursor of calcitonin (CT), as diagnostic marker of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in both preoperative and postsurgical setting. To date, about forty articles have been published on this topic. Some of these evaluated the reliability of PCT to detect MTC in thyroid nodule patients, and the other ones investigated the performance of PCT to identify recurrent MTC during postoperative follow-up. Based on published data, PCT measurement appears a promising and reliable serum marker for the diagnosis of MTC. The sample handling of PCT is less laborious and in specific conditions its assay could have significant impact and higher accuracy than CT. Some potential cut-offs have been reported but it would be worthwhile to establish a fixed threshold to use PCT during clinical practice.