Well thyroid patients heading to elective surgery for suspicious but not positive diagnosis of thyroid cancer, there is now a test, Afirma that can save you and 35,000 others this year from that surgery. It is a marker test with 143 genes, that if present on a 2 pass ultrasound guided FNA will give you a 96% chance it is benign. This is good enough to allow your thyroidologist to follow you yearly without surgery. The first soft opening 3 months of the year Veracyte Corp will do the test for you without out of pocket expense to you. They will bill your medicare,medical, and private insurance, and if there is any money due from you they will send you a letter telling you that you do not owe anything.
How does it work?
First, thyroid surgery is elective and is not an emergency no matter what the doctors tell you. Thyroid cancer is only 5% of all nodules, and it is slow growing to allow definite time for second opinions by experts.
There is time for more opinions, even when it is already on the surgery plan tommorow!
If the nodule was not called benign,or for sure cancer, then Afirma could be just the test you need to prevent a surgery, complications, and 12 weeks of recovery.
1. Call and make a consultation with me or a thyroidologist near you that offers Afirma.
2. Bring you FNA actual slides, or ask me to get them for you. If I decide the FNA is inadequate for diagnosis, which is a common occurence due to poor smearing and biopsy technique, i will repeat the biopsy and get the Afirma marker.
3. If the repeat FNA is benign or cancer I will discard the Afirma sample. However, if it is unclear as to the diagnosis,I will send the Afirma test to Veracyte. You get charged for my collection of the sample, and Veracyte will only bill your insurance if you have any. No out of pocket fees to you. If you have the 143 good genes the nodule is benign, and no surgery is needed. You can contact my office for more information on Afirma. 310-393-8860, fax 310-395-8147, or email dr.guttler@thyroid.com
