Australia-first test delivers precision diagnostics for thyroid cancer

People living with thyroid cancer now have access to a highly specialised diagnostic test, providing clinicians with a new option for monitoring patients where conventional testing is less reliable.

The new high-sensitivity serum thyroglobulin (TgMS) test, developed by Dr Magda Bolek and Dr Lucy Ding at NSW Health Pathology, offers clinicians a new option for monitoring selected patients with differentiated thyroid cancer when conventional immunoassay results may be affected by antibody interference.

The service, developed by NSW Health Pathology’s Clinical Chemistry team based at Royal North Shore Hospital, is the first clinical assay of its kind available in Australasia and expands access to advanced mass spectrometry-based diagnostics for patients across NSW and beyond.

Thyroglobulin is an important tumour marker used to monitor patients following treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer. However, conventional laboratory testing can be affected by anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) and heterophile antibody interference, making results difficult to interpret in some patients.

The new LC-MS/MS assay overcomes these limitations by providing thyroglobulin measurement that is unaffected by these interferences, helping clinicians make more informed decisions about ongoing patient care.

Dr Bolek said the test fills an important need for clinicians managing patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.

“This is a significant advancement in thyroid cancer monitoring and provides clinicians with access to a highly specialised test, not previously available anywhere else in Australia,” she said. “The assay may be particularly valuable for patients with persistent anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, where standard testing results do not align with the clinical picture, or where antibody interference is suspected.”

“For some thyroid cancer patients, conventional thyroglobulin testing can be challenging to interpret due to antibody interference,” Dr Ding added. “This new LC-MS/MS assay eliminates the antibody interference but still has a sensitivity down to 0.1 ug/L which is equivalent to the best thyroglobulin immunoassays on the market.”

NSW Health Pathology CEO, Vanessa Janissen, said the service demonstrates the expertise and innovation of public pathology services in NSW.

“Our teams continue to develop and deliver sophisticated diagnostic services that support clinicians and improve health outcomes for patients across the state,” Janissen said. “This new assay strengthens NSW Health Pathology’s capabilities in precision diagnostics and ensures patients have access to world-class testing closer to home.”

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