T HYROXINE comprises the major portion of the serum iodine in euthyroid and hyperthyroid humans (1-3). Gordon et al. (4) and others have demonstrated that most of the serum thyroxine is attached to an alpha globulin, and the remainder is bound to albumin. Little or no thyroxine has been found in association with the beta and gamma globulins.The present report describes the unusual occurrence of thyroxine-binding by serum gamma globulin in a patient with functioning carcinoma of the thyroid. This was a unique finding among 23 such patients in whom detailed studies of the serum iodine were performed (5).
MATERIALS AND METHODSThe patient was a 26-year-old woman with carcinoma of the thyroid which had metastasized to the cervical lymph nodes and to the lungs. The carcinoma was first detected at age 14, at which time surgical excision of the tumor and partial thyroidectomy had been performed. A similar operation was carried out two years later, because
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