Background Fine-needle aspiration cytology serves as a safe, economical tool in evaluating thyroid nodules. However, about 30% of the samples are categorized as indeterminate. Hence, many immunocytochemistry markers have been studied, but there has not been a single outstanding marker. We studied the efficacy of CD56 with human bone marrow endothelial cell marker-1 (HBME-1) in diagnosis in the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) category III.
Methods We reviewed ThinPrep liquid-based cytology (LBC) samples with Papanicolaou stain from July 1 to December 31, 2016 (2,195 cases) and selected TBSRTC category III cases (n = 363). Twenty-six cases were histologically confirmed as benign (six cases, 23%) or malignant (20 cases, 77%); we stained 26 LBC slides with HBME-1 and CD56 through the cell transfer method. For evaluation of reactivity of immunocytochemistry, we chose atypical follicular cell clusters.
Results CD56 was not reactive in 18 of 20 cases (90%) of malignant nodules and showed cytoplasmic positivity in five of six cases (83%) of benign nodules. CD56 showed high sensitivity (90.0%) and relatively low specificity (83.3%) in detecting malignancy (p = .004). HBME-1 was reactive in 17 of 20 cases (85%) of malignant nodules and was not reactive in five of six cases (83%) of benign nodules. HBME-1 showed slightly lower sensitivity (85.0%) than CD56. The specificity in detecting malignancy by HBME-1 was similar to that of CD56 (83.3%, p = .008). CD56 and HBME-1 tests combined showed lower sensitivity (75.0% vs 90%) and higher specificity (93.8% vs 83.3%) in detecting malignancy compared to using CD56 alone.
Conclusions Using CD56 alone showed relatively low specificity despite high sensitivity for detecting malignancy. Combining CD56 with HBME-1 could increase the specificity. Thus, we suggest that CD56 could be a useful preoperative marker for differential diagnosis of TBSRTC category III samples.
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Thyroid carcinoma is one of the leading malignancies in Thailand increasingly prevalent in the female population. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is a widely used diagnostic tool for evaluation of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Thyroid FNA is a routine procedure universally performed in Thai hospitals by a variety of clinical specialists. Manual guidance is the first-line choice complemented by ultrasound assistance in selected cases. Despite national guidelines recommendations, the diagnostic criteria and terminology of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) was slowly adopted in the local settings. Currently, the Bethesda system is actively promoted by the local professional societies as a uniform reporting system. Experience with thyroid FNA has been rarely reported to date—only a handful of publications are available in local journals. Our review, in addition to presenting various aspects of thyroid FNA in Thailand, established for the first time national references for a certain statistical outputs of TBSRTC based on the original multi-institutional cohort. The risk of malignancy in 2,017 operated thyroid nodules collected from three tertiary thyroid cancer centers was 21.7%, 14.7%, 35.9%, 44.4%, 76.7%, and 92.6% for categories I to VI, respectively. The malignancy risk in several diagnostic categories (II to IV) was higher than the risk estimated by TBSRTC and recent meta-analysis studies. We endorse the use of uniform terminology of the Bethesda system in Thailand, which will help facilitate communication among diverse medical professionals involved in the management of patients with thyroid nodules, to share local experience with the international audience.
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