MOLECULAR GENETICS APPROACHES TO PREDICTION OF CLINICAL COURSE AND OUTCOMES OF THYROID CANCER
The review article deals with practical applications of nucleic acid markers for diagnostics of thyroid cancer and monitoring its treatment. Highlighted are specific somatic oncogene mutations (RET, BRAF etc.), as well as clinical data on their utility when detecting cancer cells in fine-needle biopsies. Some problems of gene expression studies in this field are discussed, especially in cases of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN2). A need is stressed for novel genetic markers suitable for diagnostics of follicular and anaplastic thyroid neoplasia.