Molecular Testing for miRNA, mRNA, and DNA on Fine-Needle Aspiration Improves the Preoperative Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodules With Indeterminate Cytology.

Context: Molecular testing for oncogenic mutations or gene expression in fine-needle aspirations (FNAs) from thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology identifies a subset of benign or malignant lesions with high predictive value.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate a novel diagnostic algorithm combining mutation detection and miRNA expression to improve the diagnostic yield of molecular cytology.

Setting: Surgical specimens and preoperative FNAs (n = 638) were tested for 17 validated gene alterations using the miRInform Thyroid test and with a 10-miRNA gene expression classifier generating positive (malignant) or negative (benign) results.