thyrogen

dutchy
dutchy Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
Oh dear me, I don't know what to do for my husband now after reading some of the messages about thyrogen.
TG 9 suppressed TSH 0.01 T4 24.5

We will be going to see the doctor in 10 days time

I think they will be trying to find out why it's going up again.
I put a message on the yahoo site and someone told me to see about getting a PET scan with thyrogen,

I live in Australia, I don't know if our doctor does PET scans or uses thyrogen, we have never had it before ,we have had MRI or Ultra Sounds also he's had two RAI tretments

When I said to him about the LID he said he hadn't heard much about it and didn't think it was needed, but when he has to have his next RAI treatmentwe will do it then.

I 'm going to do a bit of looking around over the next couple of days, so when I go with him I can ask a lot of questions

KAY

I don't think yoou know what to do for the best one person says one thing then someone comes and said something completly different.

Comments

  • Rustifox
    Rustifox Member Posts: 110
    #2
    Hi, Kay
    Thyrogen is approved for use in Australia - there are details provided in a link at the bottom of this page:
    http://www.thyroid.org.au/Information/Thyrogen.html

    In North America, the use of PET scans is normally 'ok'd' when there is thyroglobulin positive/scan negative situations - so if the I-131 scans don't show anything, then they move to a PET scan. Here is some info about the use of PET scans in thyroid carcinoma:
    http://bjr.birjournals.org/cgi/content/full/76/910/690

    A thyroglobulin level of 9 when suppressed definitely needs further investigation, so hopefully your doctors can recommend you to a center where PET scans are used. I'm in Canada (also social medicine system), and we have very few PET scanners - sometimes only 1 in the entire province, if that; some Canadians are even being sent to the US for this, due to lack of equipment up here.

    The LID is DEFINITELY worth trying if another I-131 treatment is planned - as an example, a mere cup of milk could definitely prevent sufficient iodine uptake. If you need more info to convince your hubby this is important, here is some data:
    http://www.thyroid.org/patients/notes/july03/03_07_35.html
    And here is a new LID cookbook, perfect for us thyroid cancer patients prior to scans or treatments - you can order this through Amazon.com in Australia:
    http://www.lidcookbook.com/

    Hope this helps a bit. Good luck with the doctors appointment! All the best to you.
  • Birddog53
    Birddog53 Member Posts: 2
    #3
    Thyroglobulin level is 0.8

    What does this mean? I have papillary cancer and just had the thyrogen injections and the pill (radiation)

     

  • Birddog53
    Birddog53 Member Posts: 2
    #4
    Need some feedback

    I have my scan tomorrow, my thyroglobulin level is 0.8, need to know should I be worried, I have metastasisiced into my lymph nodes, I hope I'm making sense. This whole cancer thing is so confusing, I also have nodules in my lungs.  I am worried about the scan, should I be. 

    I hope I get some feed back on this.

  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #5
    Sorry no one has responded

    Sorry no one has responded til now.

    If you've had your thyroid removed, which I assume you have prior to the RAI, the purpoes of the radioactive iodine is to kill remaining thyroid cells, cancerous or not, that take up the irradiated iodine. Thyroglobulin (Tg) is produced by thyroid cells (cancerous or not). The idea behind testing thyroglobulin levels is to gauge the prresence of remaining thyroid cells - it's used as a cancer marker in the sense that, ideally, after RAI the thyroglobulin levels fall to zero meaning there are no more thyroid cells in the body producing the protein. Keep in mind that RAI is working in your body for quite a while (months) after administration so it's not all happening right away. It can take a while for the thyroglobulin level to drop. As you have lung mets I imagine it probably won't go to zero but .8 is pretty low. The number isn't as important as the trend at this point - if it trends upward your docs may recommend other treatments.

    From what I understand, RAI has a tougher time penetrating lymph nodes so often lymph nodes with thyroid cancer are treated by surgery or, if in the right locations, by something called alcohol ablation where they inject a solution directly into the node.

    Lung mets are also difficult to treat with RAI but it is possible that some will be "hammered" by the RAI. I have lung mets. For many patients lung mets grow very slowly and can be there for a long time causing no real ill effects. Problems arise when faced with more aggressive forms of papillary and other thyroid cancers in the lung. Those are more challenging to treat (I am in that boat). I believe far more patients are in the slow grow category I hope you will take to heart. There are some very knowledgeable patients with lung mets and other complications on the YahooGroup called adv-thyca. You may eventually want to check it out. 

    If you haven't already found it, the thyca organization has a website with a lot of useful info, including a page dedicated to explaining labs: http://www.thyca.org/about/lab-tests/

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