Diagnosing Thyroid Cancer Using a Blood Test

Thyroid cancer is a relatively rare disease but its incidence is increasing in many countries.. Early and accurate diagnosis leading to earlier treatment and intervention is recognised as a major factor in determining a good outcomes. This study will investigate new ways of diagnosing thyroid cancer from blood samples using proteomic and genetic markers. The study will take samples from patients with differentiated thyroid cancer and measure relative quantities of 1000s of proteins within the blood. These measures will be explored to see if, when used in combination they can accurately diagnose thyroid cancer. If successful this technique could be extended to routine screening and could replace more invasive tests currently used. Participants will be required to supply a small sample of blood, answer questions on their medical history and also consent for their medical records to be examined. A lifestyle questionnaire will also be supplied to each participant. In the case where a diagnosis is predicted for a condition the participant was not aware of the medical team will discuss the best interests of the patient with their GP and if required refer them to a suitable specialist. The study will run for 24 months and will routinely process around 15 and 20 participants with a history of thyroid cancer per month. All patient details will be kept confidential and only non identifiable information will leave the clinic. The work will be published and if successful will be validated on another site, commercialised and made available for routine clinical use.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age over 18 years.
2. Patient has thyroid cancer.
3. Patient is judged as being capable of understanding the information sheet and of giving informed consent (Mental Capacity Act 2005).
4. Responsible clinician is approached and is happy for the patient to be included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Age of less than 18 years.
2. Patient has additional risk infections (HIV, Hep B/C)
3. Patient is involved in other medicinal or treatment based clinical trial at the time of recruitment or in the previous 4 months.