Evaluation of accuracy of pathological diagnosis based on thyroid core needle biopsy

To explore the protocol for diagnosing thyroid nodules based on core needle biopsy (CNB) and study the biomarkers' application in distinguishing indeterminate samples. Patients with thyroid nodules treated at Peking University First Hospital from 2015 to 2020 were reviewed. In the study, 598 cases with CNB and matched resected specimens were retrieved. According to "diagnostic categories of thyroid CNB" proposed by the Korean Endocrine Pathology Thyroid Core Needle Biopsy Study Group, the CNB samples were diagnosed as follows: Ⅰ, unsatisfactory; Ⅱ, benign; Ⅲ, indeterminate; Ⅳ, follicular neoplasm; Ⅴ, suspicious for malignancy; and Ⅵ, malignant. The samples of CNB Ⅲ were stained by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using antibodies against CK19, Galectin-3, HBME-1, and CD56, and detected by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using an OncoAim thyroid cancer multigene assay kit (Singlera Genomics) that detected 26 genes. Taking the resected specimens' classification as the gold standard, the predictive value of CNB for d