EVALUATION OF THE MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY ANTITHYROPEROXIDASE MOAB47 IN THE DIAGNOSTIC DECISION OF COLD THYROID-NODULES BY FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of cold thyroid nodules has become the fi rst line diagnostic decision for electing which patients need surgery. In order to improve FNA accuracy, the monoclonal antithyroperoxidase (TPO) antibody (MoAb47) was tested. A total of 554 patients were inclu ded in this study and among them. 208 were referred to surgery. The re sults of FNA compared to the final histological diagnosis revealed a s ensitivity and a specificity of 94 and 55% respectively, while the sen sitivity and specificity of TPO immunodetection on the same cases reac hed 98 and 83% respectively. By combining the two methods, the 3 false -negative of FNA and 60% of suspicious cytology corresponding to histo logical benign lesions were correctly identified by immunocytochemistr y. With better results than FNA alone, TPO immunodetection with MoAb47 represents a useful adjunct to conventional cytology for selecting pa tients for surgery.