Abstract
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) arises from parafollicular or C cells of the thyroid gland and produces a variety of peptides such as calcitonin (CT) and gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP). Here we measured serum levels of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (Pro-GRP), a more stable precursor of GRP, in 15 patients with MTC (4 males, 11 females) who did not show any clinical or radiologic signs of small cell lung cancer. Serum Pro-GRP levels were elevated in 80% (12/15) patients. Significant correlation was observed between serum Pro-GRP and CT (r = 0.52) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (r = 0.56). Serum Pro-GRP levels also correlated with tumor size (r = 0.70). Serum Pro-GRP levels also decreased below the cut-off range in one patient after surgical resection. Our data suggest that Pro-GRP, which is considered to be a specific marker for small cell lung carcinoma, seems to be also helpful and additional marker for the diagnosis and monitoring the response to therapy in patients with MTC in addition to calcitonin as the main tumor marker.
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