{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T17:45:23Z","timestamp":1785174323428,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":["eje.bioscientifica.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["eur j endocrinol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Objective<\/jats:italic>: We assessed the association between thyroid autoimmunity and thyroid cancer in a retrospective series of unselected thyroid nodules submitted to fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) to avoid the selection bias of surgical series.<\/jats:p>\n      <jats:p><jats:italic>Subjects and methods<\/jats:italic>: Ultrasound (US)-guided FNACs were obtained from 590 unselected consecutive patients with single thyroid nodules and positive (ATA + , <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 197) or negative (ATA \u2212 , <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 393) serum anti-thyroid antibody (ATA). Cytological results were classified in three classes of increased risk of malignancy: low risk or benign (class II); indeterminate risk (class III); and suspect or malignant (class IV).<\/jats:p>\n      <jats:p><jats:italic>Results<\/jats:italic>: A higher prevalence of class III (28.9% vs 21.4%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.05) and class IV (18.8% vs 9.2%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.001) and lower prevalence of class II (52.3% vs 69.5%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.001) were found in ATA + vs ATA \u2212 nodules respectively. By multivariate logistic regression analysis ATA + conferred a significant risk (odds ratio (OR): 2.29 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39\u20133.76)) for class IV cytology independently from age and sex. In 106 patients where thyroidectomy was carried out, thyroid cancer was found in 54\/61 (88.5%) patients with class IV nodules (with similar positive predictive value for cancer in ATA + (96.4%) and ATA\u2013 (81.8%) nodules), in 6\/31 (19.3%) of class III nodules (all ATA \u2212 ) and in none of 14 class II nodules. Non-specific cytological atypias from hyperplastic nodules in lymphocytic thyroiditis probably accounted for the different prevalence of cancer in class III ATA + and ATA \u2212 nodules. Histologically proven thyroid cancer (mostly papillary) was then observed in a higher proportion (27\/197 = 13.7%) of ATA + , when compared with ATA \u2212 nodules (33\/393 = 8.4%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.044), but the significance of this finding is limited by the low number of class II nodules operated on.<\/jats:p>\n      <jats:p><jats:italic>Conclusions<\/jats:italic>: The presence of ATA + confers an increased risk of suspicious or malignant cytology in unselected thyroid nodules. Since ATA + is not responsible for increased false- positive class IV FNAC, our study provides indirect evidence supporting a significant association between thyroid carcinoma and thyroid autoimmunity, although further studies with a different design are needed for a definitive histological proof.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1530\/eje.1.02020","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,10,31]],"date-time":"2005-10-31T07:57:42Z","timestamp":1130745462000},"page":"637-642","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/crossmarkpolicy-1","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":66,"title":["High prevalence of suspicious cytology in thyroid nodules associated with positive thyroid autoantibodies"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"153","author":[{"given":"F","family":"Boi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M L","family":"Lai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"B","family":"Marziani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"L","family":"Minerba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"G","family":"Faa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S","family":"Mariotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","container-title":["European Journal of Endocrinology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/eje.bioscientifica.com\/view\/journals\/eje\/153\/5\/1530637.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/eje.bioscientifica.com\/view\/journals\/eje\/153\/5\/1530637.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,14]],"date-time":"2023-02-14T16:35:35Z","timestamp":1676392535000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ejendo\/article\/153\/5\/637\/6694570"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2005,11]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/eje.1.02020","relation":{},"ISSN":["0804-4643","1479-683X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0804-4643","type":"print"},{"value":"1479-683X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2005,11]]}}}