Lymph node characteristics of 6279 N1 differentiated thyroid cancer patients.

ABSTRACT: This study examined the clinicopathological characteristics of 6279 N1 differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients who underwent operations in our center. This was a retrospective longitudinal analysis. We categorized the DTC on the basis of various lymph node (LN) characteristics. Logistic regression models and multiple linear regression models were used for the correlation analysis. A total of 3693 (58.8%) N1a patients and 2586 (41.1%) N1b patients were included. Patients with N1b disease had larger metastatic foci (0.5 vs. 0.15 cm), a greater number of metastatic LNs (5 vs. 2), a greater number of dissected LNs (25 vs. 7), and a smaller lymph node ratio (NR, number of positive LNs / number of sampled LNs) (23.1% vs. 28.6%) than patients in stage N1a. Comparing the clinicopathological features, we found that male, increased tumor size, multifocality, and thyroiditis increased the risk of stage N1b disease (P<0.05). Sex, multifocality, capsular infiltration, and tumor size were associated with the size of the metastatic LNs (P<0.05). Sex, capsular infiltration, and nodular goiter were associated with the NR (P<0.05). Male sex, tumor located in inferior lobe, maximal tumor diameter (MTD) <1cm, and nodular goiter were independent predictors for skip metastases (P<0.05). MTD <1cm, central neck metastasis and advanced age were independent predictors for bilateral lateral neck metastasis (BLNM) (P<0.05). The LN characteristics of stage N1a and N1b disease were associated with significantly different features, such as sex, tumor size, multifocality, capsular infiltration, and nodular goiter.

SUBMITTER: Sui C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7040862 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature