Serum levels of both miRNAs after 1 to 2 years of follow-up were consistent with ATA responses to therapy in all patients, including two patients who developed structural evidence of disease whose thyroglobulin assay results remained negative (less than 1 ng/mL) for cancer recurrence.
Fifteen of the 20 patients had excellent or indeterminate responses to therapy as defined by 2015 ATA guidelines. In these 15 cases, and in the single patient with a biochemical incomplete response, expression levels of miR-146a-5p and miR-221-3p decreased after surgery and remained low at the 1- to 2-year visit.
It was a very different story for the 4 patients with structural incomplete responses at 1 to 2 years. In this subgroup, initial postoperative declines in serum miR-146a-5p and miR-221-3p levels were followed by increases to levels at the 1- to 2-year visit that were similar to or higher than those found prior to surgery.
The study was funded by the Umberto Di Mario Foundation, Banca d’Italia, University of Rome Sapienza, the program of Biotechnologies and Clinical Medicine of the University of Rome Sapienza, the European Medical Writers Association, and the Umberto Di Mario Foundation.
SOURCE: Rosignolo F et al. J Endo Soc. 2017;1(1)3-13. ENDO 2018, Abstract OR17-1.