The Importance of Screening for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in Families of Patients with MEN 2

Authors

A. Frilling
P. E. Goretzki
L. Bastian
H. D. Roeher

Abstract

Family .screening for medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is important for detecting members of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) families who may be gene carriers but show no clinical evidence of the disease. Most members of our MEN 2 families are screened yearly by measuring basal and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin (CT) levels. A 15-year-old first-degree relative of an affected member of the D-kindred showed a normal basal and an elevated stimulated CT level. Clinical examination, ultrasonography, and scintigraphy were normal. Thyroidectomy and bilateral neck dissection revealed a multicentric MTC with no lymph node involvement. In the O-kindred we detected elevated basal and/or stimulated CT levels in three asymptomatic first-degree relatives. At surgery we found a small multicentric MTC in one family member, C-cell hyperplasia in another member, and bilateral lymph node metastases in one member who had been previously thyroidectomized. Basal and stimulated CT estimations in MEN 2 family members provide an effective method for detecting MTC in early, treatable stages.

Recommended Citation

Frilling, A.; Goretzki, P. E.; Bastian, L.; and Roeher, H. D. (1989) "The Importance of Screening for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in Families of Patients with MEN 2," Henry Ford Hospital Medical Journal : Vol. 37 : No. 3 , 122-123.
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/hfhmedjournal/vol37/iss3/10