Using a ‘high sensitivity’ (40 cycles of PCR), however, resulted in the detection of Tg-mRNA in peripheral blood of 11 out of 13 patients with thyroid cancer and known metastases, 111 out of 137 patients with a history of thyroid cancer without known metastases and also in 61 out of 85 patients with benign thyroid disorders and 41 out of 50 control subjects. The gene discussed is TG; the disease is thyroid cancer.