Clinical characteristics and 131I efficacy of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma and papillary thyroid non-micro carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To compare the clinical features and 131I efficacy of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) except for PTMC. Methods PTC patients who were undergoing 131I treatment after total thyroidectomy were divided into the PTMC group (≤1.0 cm) and the papillary non-microcarcinoma group (>1.0 cm) according to tumor diameter. The clinical data of both groups were retrospectively analyzed, and the prognoses of the patients were evaluated. The statistical software SPSS Statistics 22.0 was used to analyze the results via t test and chi-squared (χ2) test. Results The proportion of patients with lymph node and central lymph node metastases in the PTMC group was lower than that in the PTC group. The number of metastatic lymph nodes was less, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=44.23, 23.56, 42.80, all P 0.05). A total of 197 patients in the two groups achieved clinical remission after treatment. The remission rate in the PTMC group was higher than that in the PTC group. Among the 197 clinical remission cases, 102 patients achieved clinical remission after the first treatment. Although more patients achieved clinical remission in the PTMC group than in the PTC group after the first treatment, no significant difference was noted between the two groups (χ2=3.18, P>0.05). Conclusions The clinical features of PTMC patients differ from those of PTC patients. The overall cure rate of PTMC after 131I treatment is higher than that of PTC. The development of individualized treatment plans for PTMC patients is recommended to achieve good therapeutic effect and prognosis. Key words: Thyroid neoplasms; Iodine radioisotopes; Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma; Papillary thyroid carcinoma; Clinical feature; Prognosis