RE: Schneder-? about TG antibodies!

August 25, 2001

Dear jo:

As I recently found out, it is customary to assay for TG antibodies when a

TG assay is ordered, i.e., it is part of the TG assay. Hence there is no

need to ask for a specific assay for the antibodies alone.

Marilyn Loeb, Rochester, NY

Schneder-? about TG antibodies!

Thanks for reading my post . How would I know if I have

thyroglobulin antibodies??? My endo did a TG test several weeks ago

and I just went for another one yesterday along with a TSH and a Free

T4 but I don't think he was testing me for antibodies? What test would

that be and could my regular Dr also do the test? I am going to see my

regular Dr tomorrow and I could ask him to do the test. I know my endo

said when he did the TG test several weeks ago that it was 0 but is

that wrong then if I have/had Hashimotos Thyroiditis??? Now I am

confused.

jo (Toronto)

Thyca@y..., " Schnedar, " <cynthia.schnedar@u...> wrote:

> One thing to note on your path report...it says that your removed

thyroid had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. This is an auto immune disease

which means you probably have thyroglobulin antibodies in your blood.

This may make it more difficult to rely on the Tg test as a marker

for cancer. I had a tt in 1994, and I still have Tg antibodies in my

blood which make the Tg test unreliable. It also makes the Thyrogen

scans less reliable. (The Thyrogen info on the thyca website goes

into more information about that). Having had Hashimoto's does not

mean that your cancer is more likely to recur than someone who did not

have Hashimoto's. It just means that you may have to undergo more

hypo scans because the Tg test is not as effective as it is for those

without antibodies.

For more information regarding thyroid cancer visit www.thyca.org. If you

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