Thyroglobulin and calcitonin measurements: pitfalls and future perspectives

Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent endocrine cancer. Prognosis depends on type and stage of cancer when discovered. Treatment involves (hemi-)thyroidectomy, possibly followed by additional therapeutic options. After treatment, patients are monitored using serum concentrations of endocrine tumour marker thyroglobulin in case of differentiated cancer and calcitonin in case of medullary thyroid cancer. Measuring thyroglobulin and calcitonin concentrations in serum may be challenging. In this review we give a complete overview of the evolvement in laboratory measurements regarding thyroglobulin and calcitonin with an emphasis on (pre-)analytical challenges and potential approaches to overcome current pitfalls.