Application of thyroglobulin,carcinoembryonic antigen,and vascular endothelial growth factor in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer

WANG Min; GUO Meng; WANG Yourong; YANG Chuang; CHEN Yu

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-4136.2025.05.014

Abstract：Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of thyroglobulin(Tg),carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA),and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in thyroid cancer.Methods The clinical data of 102 thyroid cancer patients admitted to Qinhuai Medical Zone of Eastern Theater Command General Hospital from January 2021 to January 2024 were selected as the observation group;in addition,92 patients with benign thyroid lesions during the same period were selected as the control group.The serum levels of Tg,CEA and VEGF in both groups were measured.Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between serum Tg,CEA,VEGF levels and the occurrence of thyroid cancer,and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to assess the application value of combined detection of Tg,CEA and VEGF in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer.Results Pathological examination results showed that in the observation group,there were 4 cases of medullary carcinoma,3 cases of follicular carcinoma,and 95 cases of papillary carcinoma;in the control group,there were 19 cases of thyroid adenoma,61 cases of nodular goiter,and 12 cases of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.The serum levels of Tg,CEA,and VEGF in the observation group were(75.01±10.14)ng/mL,(11.01±3.45)ng/mL,and(67.54±8.69)pg/mL,respectively,which were all higher than those in the control group[(47.75±6.81)ng/mL,(5.91±1.06)ng/mL,and(53.78±6.74)pg/mL],with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).Logistic analysis revealed that increased serum levels of Tg(OR=1.234,95％CI 1.117-1.362,P＜0.001),CEA(OR=1.860,95％CI 1.282-2.699,P=0.001),and VEGF(OR=1.147,95％CI 1.028-1.279,P=0.014)were all risk factors for thyroid cancer(P＜0.05).The ROC curve indicated that the area under the curve(AUC)of the combined detection of Tg,CEA,and VEGF for thyroid cancer assessment was 0.944.Conclusions The combined detection of serum Tg,CEA and VEGF has high diagnostic accuracy for thyroid cancer.