(1) The loss of (131)I uptake in recurrences depends not only on a decrease in NIS gene, but possibly on a reduction in the molecules regulating its intracellular metabolism; (2) the high GLUT-1 gene expression supports the use of positron emission tomography with specific tracers in clinical management of such cancers; and (3) BRAF(V600E) point mutations may lead to less differentiated phenotypes, suggesting a worse prognosis.

Pathogenesis, natural course and therapeutic management of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) in Down's syndrome (DS) remain object of debate in literature. In the present study thyroid function, antithyroid antibody (ATA) prevalence and serum lipid concentrations were investigated in a group of 344 Down patients (DP) and data were compared with those obtained from a control group of 257 age and sex matched healthy subjects. Thyroid function and ATA prevalence were also studied in 120 parents of DP. SH prevalence was clearly higher in DP (32.5% of cases) than in controls (1.1%) and parents (0%). Similarly, ATA prevalence was higher in DP (18% of cases) than in controls (5.8%) and parents (6.6%). In spite of this, no correlation was found in DP between SH and ATA prevalences, since ATA were detected in 18.7% of SH-DP and in 15.8% of euthyroid DP. Thus, circulating ATA were not detected in the majority of SH-DP. No significant differences regarding T4, FT4, T3 and serum lipid levels among SH and euthyroid DP and controls were found. Moreover, TSH levels were only slightly increased, generally less than 10 microU/ml, in most cases of SH-DP. Follow-up was longer than 24 months (range 2-7 years, mean 3.1) in a group of 201 DP: two different patterns of SH course were observed, mainly depending on the presence or the absence of circulating ATA. In particular, 35.7% of ATA-positive SH-DP developed a clinically evident thyroid disease (overt hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism), while no similar case was recorded among ATA-negative SH-DP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Serum levels of calcitonin (CT) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were evaluated in a group of 41 patients with histologically proven medullary thyroid carcinoma (MCT) before and sequentially after treatment for a period up to 7 years. Before thyroidectomy, CT levels were high in all patients, and significantly more elevated when metastases were present. On the other hand, CEA levels were high in most but not all the patients, and they also were found more frequently to be elevated in patients with metastases. After treatment, most of the patients without metastases showed persistently normal basal and pentagastrin stimulated CT and CEA levels. In some patients either without or with local metastases, postoperative CT levels, although considerably reduced, remained persistently above normal limits, whereas CEA levels became completely normal. This pattern may be due to the persistence of minute occult foci of the tumor, not sufficient to produce measurable amounts of CEA, which is not synthesized by all tumor cells. Most of the patients with metastases at diagnosis, showed still elevated CT and CEA levels after treatment. In the nonprogressive cases both markers decreased after adjunctive treatment or remained unchanged. In patients with progressive disease, an increase of CEA levels in the absence of a parallel increase of CT levels, which even decreased, was often observed. In one patient with progressive disease high CEA levels were seen for the first time when liver metastases had occurred. These data seem to suggest that, even though CEA production is not recognizable in all patients with MCT, in the CEA positive cases CEA levels may follow a nonparallel pattern and may have a distinct diagnostic meaning with respect to CT levels. In some cases, particularly in advanced disease, CEA may be a more useful marker of poor prognosis.

Contradictory findings have been reported about a possible causal relationship of life stress to Graves' disease. We evaluated this issue by investigating the occurrence of stressful life events in the year before the first signs of disease onset, using methods that have been found to be valid and reliable in psychosomatic research. Seventy consecutive patients with Graves' disease and a control group of 70 healthy subjects, matched for sociodemographic variables, were studied. Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events (a semistructured research interview covering 64 life events) was administered to patients, not during the acute phase of illness but while on remission, by antithyroid drug treatment. Patients with Graves' disease reported significantly more life events compared to controls (p<0.001). They also had more independent events (p<0.001) and events that had an objective negative impact (p <0.001) according to an independent rater, unaware whether the events had occurred in patients or controls. All categories of events were found to be significantly more frequent in patients suffering from Graves' disease than in controls. By rigorous methods (inclusion of patients with Graves' disease only, careful dating of the onset of symptoms, accurate event definition, delay of the interview upon disease remission, use of a blind rater for judging independence and objective negative impact), our results support the concept of an excess of life events in Graves' disease. Stressful life events may affect the regulatory mechanisms of immune function in a number of ways. Within the extreme complexity of the phenomena implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid hyperfunction, our findings emphasize the role of emotional stress.

This article describes the findings of a retrospective analysis of data obtained on 78 patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), recorded between 1969 and 1986, and then followed at the Thyroid Center of Padua (Italy). The ages of the patients ranged between 15 and 89 years, with a median age of 45. The female to male (F:M) ratio was 2.9:1. All patients except 2 had total thyroidectomy. In 70 cases the tumor was of sporadic type; there were 3 familial non-multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) MTC; 3 MEN IIa; and 2 MEN IIb. The median duration of follow-up was 15.9 years (13 patients were followed up between 15 and 20 years, and 9 longer than 20). At diagnosis, the tumor was intrathyroid (stage I and II) in 31 patients, with local lymphnodes involved (stage III) in 41 patients, and with distant metastases (stage IV) in 6 patients. A total of 34 patients died (4 were at stage II at diagnosis, 26 at stage III, and 4 at stage IV); 4 of them died of unrelated causes, the others with tumor. The median survival rate of the deceased patients was 6 years (41% of these patients died within 3 years and 24% after more than 10 years); 76% of the deceased patients were older than 45 years at diagnosis. A total of 44 patients are still alive, 22 are alive free of disease (with follow-up between 10 and 24 years, median 14.2 years) and 22 are alive with disease (median follow-up 12.2 years). Only 30% of the patients of both these groups was older than 45 years at diagnosis. Survival is strongly related to tumor stage and to age at diagnosis, because only 8 of the 34 deceased patients were younger than 45 years (and 2 of them died of unrelated causes); moreover, patients who were treated at earlier stages of the disease had better prognosis. Survival rate at 10 and 20 years was 95% for patients with tumor limited to the thyroid, whereas it was 55% and 28.6%, respectively, for patients at stage III and IV. Bone metastases were correlated with worse prognosis than distant metastases only to soft tissues. The sex did not affect survival. None of the patients who had postoperative low serum calcitonin (CT) levels and no response to pentagastrin stimulation showed recurrences in the follow-up. In patients with postoperative elevated serum CT levels, recurrences of the tumor increased over time. However, 30% of these patients continued to show only elevated CT levels without evidence of the disease, even after 15 years.