Table 1.
Summary of studies of diagnostic molecular markers on thyroid FNAB specimens with indeterminate cytology
| n* | Malignant (%)† |
Markers | Prospective | Multicentre | Blinded | Sensitivity | NPV | Specificity | PPV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faroux et al, 199728 | 69 | 13% | A | NA | No | NA | 89% | 97% | 58% | 24% |
| Umbricht et al, 200429 | 100 | 48% | B | No | Yes | NA | 90% | 87% | 65% | 70% |
| Saggiorato et al, 200530 | 125 | 60% | C | No | No | Yes | 100% | 100% | 82% | 78% |
| Bartolazzi et al, 200825 | 432 | 30% | D | Yes | Yes | Yes | 78% | 91% | 93% | 82% |
| Franco et al, 200931 | 138 | 51% | E | Yes | No | NA | 95% | 92% | 76% | 83% |
| Nikiforov et al, 200919 | 52 | 40% | F | Yes | Yes | Yes | 71% | 84% | 100% | 100% |
| Moses et al, 201027 | 137 | 31% | F | Yes | No | Yes | 48% | 80% | 94% | 78% |
| Milas et al, 201024 | 61 | 75% | G | No | No | No | 59% | 80% | 90% | 39% |
| Samija et al, 201132 | 142 | 20% | H | Yes | No | Yes | 79% | 91% | 53% | 28% |
| Fadda et al, 201133 | 119 | 45% | I | NA | No | NA | 89% | 85% | 64% | 71% |
| Nikiforov et al, 201120 | 513 | 24% | J | Yes | No | No | 61% | 89% | 98% | 89% |
| Shen et al, 201234 | 68 | 65% | K | No | No | Yes | 89% | 79% | 79% | 89% |
| Keutgen et al, 201235 | 72 | 31% | L | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100% | 100% | 86% | 73% |
| Agretti et al, 201236 | 53 | 28% | M | Yes | No | Yes | 60% | 78% | 58% | 39% |
| Rossi et al, 201237 | 123 | 36% | N | Yes | No | NA | 32% | 73% | 100% | 100% |
| Alexander et al, 201226 | 265 | 32% | O | Yes | Yes | Yes | 92% | 93% | 52% | 47% |
FNAB=fine needle aspiration biopsy. NPV=negative predictive value. PPV=positive predictive value. NA=not available. A=TPO immunocytochemistry (positive for malignancy <80% cells). B=human telomerase mRNA. C=galectin 3 plus KRT19 plus HBME-1 immunocytochemistry. D=galectin 3 immunohistochemistry (cell blocks). E=galectin 3 plus HBME-1 immunohistochemistry (cell blocks), either marker positive (>10% cells staining). F=BRAF and RAS mutations, RET-PTC and PAX8-PPAR rearrangements. G=peripheral blood (non-serum, non-erythrocyte) thyroid-stimulating hormone mRNA (>1 ng/µg RNA is positive). H=galectin 3 mRNA RT-PCR (visual band on gel). I=galectin 3 plus HBME-1 immunocytochemistry (> 50% cell staining, either marker positive). J=BRAF and RAS mutations, RET-PTC and PAX8-PPAR rearrangements. K=four microRNA set (miR-30d, miR-146b, miR-187, miR-221) linear discrimination analysis. L=four microRNA set (miR-21, miR-197, miR-222, miR-328) support vector machine-radial basis kernel model. M=three microRNA set (miR-146b, miR-155, miR-221) decision-tree analysis. N=BRAFV600E mutation. O=gene expression classifier (mRNA expression levels of 142 genes).
Number of indeterminate FNAB with histopathology correlation.
Percentage malignancy among indeterminate FNAB nodules.