NCT05463107

Correlation Between Various Urinary Exosomal Protein Biomarkers and Pathological Manifestation in Thyroid Follicular Neoplasm: Early and Pre-operative Diagnosis of Follicular Thyroid Cancer

Active, enrolled Last updated 13 April 2026

What this trial tests

trial in Thyroid Cancer in 50 participants. Participants enrolled and being followed up; not accepting new ones.

Timeline

1 August 2022

Primary endpoint
8 April 2026

31 July 2028

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	National Taiwan University Hospital
Status	Active, enrolled
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	50
Start date	1 August 2022
Primary completion	8 April 2026
Estimated completion	31 July 2028
Sites	1 location across Taiwan

Conditions studied

• Thyroid Cancer — all drugs for Thyroid Cancer →
• Follicular Thyroid Cancer — all drugs for Follicular Thyroid Cancer →

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Who can join

Adults 20 to 80, any sex, with Thyroid Cancer or Follicular Thyroid Cancer. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in the world. Generally, thyroid cancer could be divided into well-differentiated and poorly-differentiated. Well-differentiated thyroid cancers usually have two different patterns, including papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer. Thyroid sonography is convenient to obtain repeatedly for the images of nodular goiter. However, cytology and pathology are still the golden rules to make the final diagnosis. Under the basis of sono-guided fine needle aspiration cytology, diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer is typically using fine needle aspiration cytology based on the presentation of typical cytologic features. On the other hand, thyroid follicular lesion cannot be interpretated via cytology because the evidence of capsular invasion or vascular permeation of capsule will not be available in fine needle aspiration cytology. Surgical intervention with pathological specimens is the only pathway to make the final diagnosis. Interestingly, both patterns of well-differentiated thyroid cancer shared the same follow-up tumor marker, i.e. serum thyroglobulin. Up to date, pre-operative diagnosis of follicular thyroid cancer is still one of the unresolved issues in endocrine oncology.

Publications & conference data

8 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Protein cargo in extracellular vesicles as the key mediator in the progression of cancer.
   Hánělová K, Raudenská M, Masařík M, Balvan J. · · 2024 · cited 60× · PMID 38200509 · DOI 10.1186/s12964-023-01408-6
2. Extracellular vesicles: A dive into their role in the tumor microenvironment and cancer progression.
   Lopez K, Lai SWT, Lopez Gonzalez EJ, Dávila RG, et al · · 2023 · cited 49× · PMID 37025182 · DOI 10.3389/fcell.2023.1154576
3. Extracellular vesicles in cancers: mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutic strategies.
   Ma Y, Zhang X, Liu C, Zhao Y. · · 2024 · cited 22× · PMID 39611045 · DOI 10.1002/mco2.70009
4. The biological function of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles on metabolism.
   Fu X, Song J, Yan W, Downs BM, et al · · 2023 · cited 22× · PMID 37349803 · DOI 10.1186/s12964-023-01111-6
5. Exosomes: from basic research to clinical diagnostic and therapeutic applications in cancer.
   Araujo-Abad S, Berna JM, Lloret-Lopez E, López-Cortés A, et al · · 2025 · cited 21× · PMID 39298081 · DOI 10.1007/s13402-024-00990-2
6. Exosomes in inflammation and cancer: from bench to bedside applications.
   Huang S, Yan F, Qiu Y, Liu T, et al · · 2025 · cited 20× · PMID 40490663 · DOI 10.1186/s43556-025-00280-9
7. Tumor-derived systems as novel biomedical tools-turning the enemy into an ally.
   Desai N, Katare P, Makwana V, Salave S, et al · · 2023 · cited 20× · PMID 37946275 · DOI 10.1186/s40824-023-00445-z
8. Exosomes and solid cancer therapy: where are we now?
   Zemanek T, Danisovic L, Nicodemou A. · · 2025 · cited 15× · PMID 39961904 · DOI 10.1007/s12032-025-02626-3