Table 1.
Characteristics of patients and controls
| Patients | Clinical status/evidence of metastasis | Time after diagnosis (years) | Tg Ab status | TSH value (mU/l) |
| 1–14 | Thyroid cancer/yes | 4/5/6/6/7/12/9/13/17/13/5/6/4/7 | Negative | TSH <0.1 |
| 15–24 | Thyroid cancer/no | 6/5/6/7/12/14/4/6/8/9 | Negative | TSH <0.1 |
| 25–27 | Thyroid cancer/no | 5/4/10 | Positive | TSH <0.1 |
| 28 | Thyroid cancer/yes | 6 | Positive | TSH <0.1 |
| 29–34 | Hypothyroidism | Negative | TSH >15 | |
| 35–39 | Normal: euthyroid | Negative | 3> TSH >0.4 |
Ab, antibody; Tg, thyroglobulin; TSH, thyrotrophin.