Diagnosis of primary thyroid carcinoma by immunohistological demonstration of thyroglobulin.

Thyroglobulin was found by the immunoperoxidase technique in routine histological sections of biopsies from all of 30 proven cases of well differentiated papillary or follicular thyroid carcinoma examined, in one of 20 anaplastic thyroid tumours and in none of 49 other tumours examined. Immunohistological demonstration of thyroglobulin in thyroidal or extrathyroidal tumours is of diagnostic value in confirming that the thyroid is the tissue of origin. Well differentiated tumours lacking thyroglobulin probably do not arise from thyroid epithelium.