Re: Tg Antibodies -- Info on Dr. Carole Spencer?

[Guest guest]

Marilyn--

> But now I need some info. Can anyone fill me in on the Tg testing done

> by Dr. Carole Spencer at USC?

> When is it appropriate to send bloodwork to her? How does one

> proceed? Details. I need details. Has anyone currently on the list

> had their bloodwork sent to her? Can you fill me in?

Have you seen the article she wrote that was just posted at the ThyCa site?

http://www.thyca.org It's on the main page; just scroll down.

Also, Marilyn Loeb previously posted wonderful details, just like you need

(plus info on work at s Hopkins), so I'll copy that below.

And I'll also copy below Dr. Rolla's post about TB antibodies in general, &

something from Dr. Ain on antibody testing.

Nina

geiger@...

.. regarding the assay of TG when you have TG antibodies, I have two

suggestions. First, others on this list have said that Dr. Carole Spencer at

the Univ. of So. Calif. apparently can assay for TG in the presence of TG

antibodies. I believe the phone number is . You could

certainly call her and ask if she would be interested in assaying your

blood.

Secondly, there is a lab at s Hopkins that has an alternate way to assay

for TG. They developed this method to avoid problems with TG antibodies.

It is probably still experimental. However, they probably also know all the

ins and outs of TG assays. A person to contact at s Hopkins is: Dr.

W. Ladenson, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, s Hopkins

Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD21287-4904. His name has been

mentioned by folks on the thyca listserve, so if you wanted more info you

could put in a request to our group.--Marilyn Loeb, thyca list 3-01

.....The presence of interfering anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies often

invalidates the use of the thyroglobulin assessment for thyroid cancer

follow-up, since these antibodies frequently interfere with the assay and

artificially lower the measured amount of thyroglobulin. I have evaluated

many different laboratories' claims of methods to accurately measure

thyroglobulin in the presence of autoantibodies and I am not yet convinced

that any of them give valid results.-- B. Ain, M.D. 3-01

Antithyroglobulin antibodies are present in the plasma of persons who make

antibodies against the thyroid gland, not necessarily persons with Thyca.

They are commonly present among persons with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and

they may be present in a much smaller percentage of the general population.

The problem is that when you have a significant titer of antithyroglobulin

antibodies in the blood you cannot accurately measure the level of

Thyroglobulin because the antibodies interfere with the assay. The assay is

done using antibodies (Exactly antithyroglobulin antibodies raised in

animals) to find and quantify the molecules of thyroglobulin you have in

circulation. So when they add the antithyroglobulin from the animals to the

blood of a patient who has his/her own antithyroglobulins in circulation,

the assay becomes " confused " and the results are not reliable. Most

laboratories will NOT measure Thyroglobulin if there are antithyroglobulin

antibodies in your blood. So, for all practical purposes if you have

antithyroglobulin antibodies in your blood you lose the opportunity to

measure Thyroglobulin which is an awesome tumor marker.

Now that you know that, let me add the confusing reality:

- There are several different methods to measure both thyroglobulin and

antithyroglobulin antibodies and there is not 100% agreement in the results.

So, you may have antibodies with one laboratory and not with

another laboratory that is using a different technique. Next, there are

differences in the results of thyroglobulin, specially in the low range that

may become very important if you are looking for minor increases in the

level of YOUR blood. Mind you, because of this you will find difference of

opinion about when to intervene with levels of Thyroglobulin of 2, 5 or 10

ng/ml.

- Antithyroglobulin antibodies may disappear over time, specially if the

tumor has disappeared as well. So, in some instances the reappearance of

antithyroglobulin antibodies may be an indirect indication that something is

going on.

If you think you are confused, just put 10 experts on Thyca in a room and

ask them to reach a consensus about it! We argue and argue for hours about

this which really reflects the different laboratories we use and different

patients and experiences we have.--Dr. Rolla, reposted on thyca 10-99

[Guest guest]

> Help! There are always posts about people having Tg Antibodies and

> while I understand that it effects the reliability of the Tg test,

I've

> never paid very close attention to the whole issue because I don't

have

> Tg antibodies.

>

> But now I need some info. Can anyone fill me in on the Tg testing

done

> by Dr. Carole Spencer at USC?

> When is it appropriate to send bloodwork to her? How does one

> proceed? Details. I need details. Has anyone currently on the

list

> had their bloodwork sent to her? Can you fill me in?

>

> Marilyn

Hello,

I had my blood work sent to Dr. Spencer's lab at USC. My endo didn't

trust the local lab(the one which was specified by my HMO), and sent

it to California. It cost $100 for the TG and TGab test. It took

about three weeks to get the results.

Miami, FL

[Guest guest]

Marilyn,

I had my 3rd RAI in December. In February I had blood

work done that showed antibodies present. I never had

them before. I asked my endo whether I can do another

blood work in his office (also Los Angeles) and he

will send it over to USC Endocrine Lab to see if they

will come up with different result. He agreed. My lab

results came back without antibodies and with TG of 14

and signed by Carole Spencer. My hope now is that

those antibodies that got developed after RAI were

helping me to kill cancer.

Good Luck,

Inna

--- Geiger wrote:

> Marilyn--

>

> > But now I need some info. Can anyone fill me in

> on the Tg testing done

> > by Dr. Carole Spencer at USC?

> > When is it appropriate to send bloodwork to her?

> How does one

> > proceed? Details. I need details. Has anyone

> currently on the list

> > had their bloodwork sent to her? Can you fill me

> in?

>

> Have you seen the article she wrote that was just

> posted at the ThyCa site?

> http://www.thyca.org It's on the main page; just

> scroll down.

>

> Also, Marilyn Loeb previously posted wonderful

> details, just like you need

> (plus info on work at s Hopkins), so I'll copy

> that below.

>

> And I'll also copy below Dr. Rolla's post about TB

> antibodies in general, &

> something from Dr. Ain on antibody testing.

>

> Nina

> geiger@...

>

> . regarding the assay of TG when you have TG

> antibodies, I have two

> suggestions. First, others on this list have said

> that Dr. Carole Spencer at

> the Univ. of So. Calif. apparently can assay for TG

> in the presence of TG

> antibodies. I believe the phone number is (323)

> 442-2867. You could

> certainly call her and ask if she would be

> interested in assaying your

> blood.

> Secondly, there is a lab at s Hopkins that has

> an alternate way to assay

> for TG. They developed this method to avoid

> problems with TG antibodies.

> It is probably still experimental. However, they

> probably also know all the

> ins and outs of TG assays. A person to contact at

> s Hopkins is: Dr.

> W. Ladenson, Division of Endocrinology and

> Metabolism, s Hopkins

> Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore,

> MD21287-4904. His name has been

> mentioned by folks on the thyca listserve, so if you

> wanted more info you

> could put in a request to our group.--Marilyn Loeb,

> thyca list 3-01

>

> ....The presence of interfering anti-thyroglobulin

> autoantibodies often

> invalidates the use of the thyroglobulin assessment

> for thyroid cancer

> follow-up, since these antibodies frequently

> interfere with the assay and

> artificially lower the measured amount of

> thyroglobulin. I have evaluated

> many different laboratories' claims of methods to

> accurately measure

> thyroglobulin in the presence of autoantibodies and

> I am not yet convinced

> that any of them give valid results.-- B.

> Ain, M.D. 3-01

>

> Antithyroglobulin antibodies are present in the

> plasma of persons who make

> antibodies against the thyroid gland, not

> necessarily persons with Thyca.

> They are commonly present among persons with

> Hashimoto's thyroiditis and

> they may be present in a much smaller percentage of

> the general population.

> The problem is that when you have a significant

> titer of antithyroglobulin

> antibodies in the blood you cannot accurately

> measure the level of

> Thyroglobulin because the antibodies interfere with

> the assay. The assay is

> done using antibodies (Exactly antithyroglobulin

> antibodies raised in

> animals) to find and quantify the molecules of

> thyroglobulin you have in

> circulation. So when they add the antithyroglobulin

> from the animals to the

> blood of a patient who has his/her own

> antithyroglobulins in circulation,

> the assay becomes " confused " and the results are not

> reliable. Most

> laboratories will NOT measure Thyroglobulin if there

> are antithyroglobulin

> antibodies in your blood. So, for all practical

> purposes if you have

> antithyroglobulin antibodies in your blood you lose

> the opportunity to

> measure Thyroglobulin which is an awesome tumor

> marker.

> Now that you know that, let me add the confusing

> reality:

> - There are several different methods to measure

> both thyroglobulin and

> antithyroglobulin antibodies and there is not 100%

> agreement in the results.

> So, you may have antibodies with one laboratory and

> not with

> another laboratory that is using a different

> technique. Next, there are

> differences in the results of thyroglobulin,

> specially in the low range that

> may become very important if you are looking for

> minor increases in the

> level of YOUR blood. Mind you, because of this you

> will find difference of

> opinion about when to intervene with levels of

> Thyroglobulin of 2, 5 or 10

> ng/ml.

> - Antithyroglobulin antibodies may disappear over

> time, specially if the

> tumor has disappeared as well. So, in some instances

> the reappearance of

> antithyroglobulin antibodies may be an indirect

> indication that something is

> going on.

> If you think you are confused, just put 10 experts

> on Thyca in a room and

> ask them to reach a consensus about it! We argue and

> argue for hours about

> this which really reflects the different

> laboratories we use and different

> patients and experiences we have.--Dr. Rolla,

> reposted on thyca 10-99

>

>

>

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