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Analysis of institutional authors

Parra-Robert, MarinaAuthorMaria Auge, JosepCorresponding AuthorFilella, XavierAuthorMolina, RafaelAuthor

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Utility of proGRP as a tumor marker in the medullary thyroid carcinoma

Publicated to:Clinical Chemistry And Laboratory Medicine. 55 (3): 441-446 - 2017-03-01 55(3), DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2016-0572

Authors: Parra-Robert, Marina; Orois, Aida; Maria Auge, Josep; Halperin, Irene; Filella, Xavier; Molina, Rafael;

Affiliations

Hosp Clin Barcelona, Biochem & Mol Genet Dept, Villarroel 170, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, Dept Biochem & Mol Genet, Biomed Diagnost Ctr CDB, Oncobiol Unit, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, Dept Endocrinol, Barcelona, Spain - Author

Abstract

Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor caused by a malignant transformation in the parafollicular C-cells of the thyroid, where calcitonin (CT) is released. Nowadays the main tumor markers (TM) used in the diagnosis and follow-up of MTC patients are CT and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Nonetheless, progastrin releasing peptide (proGRP) has been recently proposed as a TM useful in the MTC. Our aims were to investigate the release of proGRP in thyroid tumors, its role in the assessment of advanced MTC and its utility in the differential diagnosis between MTC and non-MTC thyroid tumors. Methods: Serum samples from 22 patients with MTC and 16 with non-MTC were collected. Patients were classified into advanced cancer or no evidence of disease (NED). ProGRP was performed by Architect (Abbot Diagnostics), CT by Liaison (Diasorin) and CEA by Cobas E601(Roche Diagnostics). Results: ProGRP median concentration in advanced MTC was significantly higher (1398.4 pg/mL) when compared with non-MTC, either in advanced disease (24.9 pg/mL) or NED (14.6 pg/mL). In non-MTC patients, proGRP median concentration was below its cutoff level (50 pg/mL). Similar to CT, proGRP was able to detect 88.9% of MTC patients, but with a slightly lower specificity of 76.9%. Using proGRP together with CT the sensitivity increased to 100%. Conclusions: The low prevalence of this malignancy strongly recommends further collaborative studies, mainly focused on monitoring proGRP during tyrosine kinase inhibitors treatment for early detection of resistance and assessing its usefulness to avoid the observed false positive fluctuations that occur with CT and CEA.

Keywords

CalcitoninCarcinoembryonic antigenCarcinoembryonic antigen (cea)Cell lung-cancerDiagnosisGastrin-releasing-peptideMalignant diseasesMedullary thyroid carcinomaNeuron-specific enolaseProgastrin releasing peptide (progrp)Prognostic-factorsProtooncogeneRet inhibitor therapyThyroid tumor

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Clinical Chemistry And Laboratory Medicine due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2017, it was in position 7/30, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Medical Laboratory Technology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 3.53, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-20, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 9
  • Scopus: 17
  • Europe PMC: 4
  • OpenCitations: 12

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-20:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 34 (PlumX).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Parra Robert, Marina) and Last Author (Molina Porto, Rafael).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Augé Fradera, Josep Maria.