Abstract

Soluble proteins were prepared from 36 thyroid tumors, 7 adenomas and 29 carcinomas, and studied by analytical ultracentrifugation and paper electrophoresis. Thyroglobulin-type proteins (thyroglobulin 19S, its dissociation product 12S and its polymers) were present only in tumors capable of accumulation and organisation of iodine either at the time of examination or after thyroidectomy (radiothyroidectomy). In 131I-labeled specimens the majority of the radioactivity was bound to thyroglobulin, but about 5% of total radioactivity was always present in an albumin-like protein. Thyroglobulin-like proteins were lacking in all carcinomas which remained nonfunctioning even after total thyroidectomy. This was true not only of all nondifferentiated carcinomas but also of some nonfunctioning differentiated tumors which on microscopic examination did not differ from functioning differentiated cancers. The presence of thyroglobulin in the absence of radioiodine uptake has practical significance for predicting tumor function and the applicability of radioiodine treatment of metastatic thyroid carcinoma.

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