Follicular Carcinoma Patients Research Articles

Frequency of Distant Metastasis of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma- A Descriptive Analysis

Introduction: The presence of distant metastases is one of the important predictive factors of poor outcomes in patients with thyroid carcinoma. It is rarely observed at early presentation of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). This study aimed to analyze the frequency of distant metastasis in differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the Department of Otolaryngology, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, and Department of Otolaryngology Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), from July 2011 to Jun 2012. A total of 40 patients were selected as study subjects by simple random sampling technique. A descriptive analysis of data was carried out by using a statistical package for social science (SPSS) 22.0 for Windows. Result: In this study, a majority (35, 87.5%) of the patients suffered from papillary carcinoma, followed by (5,12.5%) follicular carcinoma. Considering the distant metastasis, 2 (5.71%) patients had metastasis to the lung among the patients with papillary carcinoma (n=35). 1 patient had lung metastasis and another 1 patient had bony metastasis among the follicular carcinoma patients. In terms of distant metastasis, 50% of the patients had distant metastasis from each papillary and follicular carcinoma. Conclusion: This study concludes that metastasis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma is not uncommon. Distant metastasis is more common in follicular thyroid carcinoma than papillary carcinoma. Lung and bone metastasis are common regarding the site of metastasis.

Epidemiological Analysis of Adult Thyroid Cancer in Najran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background and Aims: Thyroid cancer (TC) is the second most common neoplasm occurring in adult Saudi women. Therefore, this study aimed to discuss the demography, classification, and management of TC among adults in Najran, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study reviewed 88 patients with histopathologically identified TC at Najran King Khalid Hospital between January 2018 and September 2022. Descriptive data analysis was performed, focusing on the clinical and pathological information, treatment strategies, comorbidities, and demographics. Results: This study included 88 patients with TC. Female sex (81.8%), age 30–44 years (46.6%), and Saudi nationality (77.3%) were not significantly associated with the histopathological diagnosis (P = 0.064, P = 0.313, and P = 0.603, respectively). Comorbidities were identified in 52 patients (59.1%), with thyroid diseases being the most common (21.6%), followed by hypertension (16.1%). Total thyroidectomy showed statistically significant results in 63/71 papillary carcinoma patients (88.7%), and hemithyroidectomy was significant in 9/14 follicular carcinoma patients (64.3%) (P < 0.001). Statistically significant results were reported with no neck dissection in the papillary, follicular, and coexisting papillary and follicular TC cases (P = 0.046), while bilateral dissection showed significant results in the medullary carcinoma case (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Our study examined the demographic and clinicopathological data of TC between 2018 and 2022 in Najran. We found that Saudi nationals, women, and individuals aged 30–44 years comprised the majority of those affected. The most frequent type of TC was papillary carcinoma.

The Associations Between RAS Mutations and Clinical Characteristics in Follicular Thyroid Tumors: New Insights from a Single Center and a Large Patient Cohort

Many studies on thyroid follicular tumors have reported the presence of somatic mutations to three forms of RAS: HRAS, KRAS, and NRAS. However, the frequency and clinical significance of these RAS mutations remain unclear, in large part due to the different methodologies being used for mutation analysis and the limited number of cases featured in studies. To clarify the significance of RAS mutations, we examined a large number of follicular adenomas and carcinomas obtained from a single institute using established methods for the analysis of RAS. Tumor samples from 40 follicular adenoma and 58 follicular carcinoma patients treated at the Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital were analyzed. The three RAS mutations at codons 12 and 61 were assessed with a polymerase chain reaction-based loop-hybrid mobility shift assay followed by confirmation with direct sequencing. The relationships between mutation status and clinicopathological features at the time of the initial operation and the prognosis of the patients were also analyzed. Twelve out of 40 (30%) adenomas harbored RAS mutations. In contrast, 33 out of 58 (57%) follicular carcinomas harbored RAS mutations, and the mutation was predominantly found in the NRAS codon 61 (22/33, 67%, p<0.01). The rate of gene mutations was significantly higher in the carcinomas than in the adenomas (p<0.01). The NRAS codon 61 mutation in follicular carcinomas was positively associated with distant metastases through the entire clinical course of the patients (p<0.05), and RAS mutations were associated with poor overall patient survival (p<0.05). We investigated the frequency of RAS mutations in follicular thyroid tumors from a large number of cases obtained from a single institute. The predominance of NRAS codon 61 mutations as a feature of carcinomas indicates that the diagnosis of adenoma alongside the presence of this mutation should be made cautiously. Our study raises the possibility that follicular adenomas with the RAS mutations have an inherent malignant potential; however, the clinical significance of this finding should be further investigated in more patients and over a longer follow-up period.

Thyroid Follicular Carcinoma: Sonographic Features of 50 Cases

The purpose of our study was to retrospectively evaluate sonography of thyroid follicular neoplasms for features that would aid in distinguishing follicular carcinoma from follicular adenoma and for any imaging features that distinguish the Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma from classic follicular carcinoma. The study cohort consisted of patients with the diagnosis of follicular carcinoma and patients with the diagnosis of follicular adenoma. Fifty patients (25 men and 25 women; median age, 59.5 years) with a diagnosis of follicular carcinoma (27 with classic follicular carcinoma, 22 with Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma, and one insular variant) in a 6-year period were included. Fifty-two control patients (10 men and 42 women; median age, 46.5 years) were selected from a random sampling of all cases of follicular adenoma during the same time period. Sonograms were reviewed in consensus by four radiologists for various features. All study patients and control patients underwent surgical resection and pathologic analysis of their thyroid follicular neoplasm. The chi-square or Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables; the Wilcoxon's rank sum test was used for continuous variables. Hypoechoic appearance (82% of follicular carcinoma patients vs 50% of follicular adenoma patients; p<0.005; odds ratio [OR]), 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.7), absence of halo (64% of follicular carcinoma patients vs 42% of follicular adenoma patients; p<0.05; OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9), absence of cystic change (90% of follicular carcinoma patients vs 69% of follicular adenoma patients; p<0.05; OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.7), greater patient age (median age of 59.5 years for follicular carcinoma patients vs 46.5 years for follicular adenoma patients; p<0.05), size of the tumor (median size of 11.75 mL for follicular carcinoma patients vs 5.95 mL for follicular adenoma patients; p<0.05), and male sex (50% of follicular carcinoma patients vs 19.2% of follicular adenoma patients; p<0.005; OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.6-8.9) were more frequently associated with follicular thyroid cancer than with benign adenoma. No significant difference in the prevalence of refractive shadowing, echotexture, visible invasion, lymph node enlargement, adjacent nonfollicular suspicious lesions, vascularity subtype, and calcifications was observed between the two groups. Within the follicular carcinoma subgroup, homogeneous or predominantly homogeneous echotexture (67% of classic follicular carcinoma patients vs 36% of Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma patients; p<0.05; OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.1-11.4) and the presence of calcifications (22% of classic follicular carcinoma patients vs 4% of Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma patients [multivariate analysis including age]; p < 0.05; OR, 22.9; 95% CI, 2.0-261.9) were associated with classic follicular carcinoma. Greater patient age (median age of 53 years for classic follicular carcinoma patients vs 64.5 years for Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma patients; p<0.05) was associated with Hürthle-cell variant follicular carcinoma. There was no association between tumor volume, sex, sonographic halo, refractive shadowing, echogenicity, visible invasion, lymph node enlargement, adjacent nonfollicular suspicious lesions, vascularity subtype, and cystic change between the subgroups of follicular carcinoma. The sonographic features of follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma are very similar, but larger lesion size, lack of a sonographic halo, hypoechoic appearance, and absence of cystic change favored a follicular carcinoma diagnosis. Increased patient age and male sex are associated with malignancy. Within the follicular carcinoma subgroup, Hürthle-cell variant of follicular carcinoma is more often seen in older patients with nodules having a heterogeneous appearance and lacking internal calcifications.

Prognosis and Prognostic Factors of Follicular Carcinoma in Japan: Importance of Postoperative Pathological Examination

Follicular carcinoma is known to show a worse prognosis than papillary carcinoma because of distant metastasis in higher incidence. However, few studies have been published regarding the prognosis of follicular carcinoma patients in Japan, which prompted us to investigate this issue. We examined the prognosis and whether and how various clinicopathological features have affected disease-free survival (DFS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) of 334 patients who underwent initial surgery for follicular carcinoma. In 18 patients (5.4%), curative surgery could not be achieved because of distant metastasis at surgery in 17 patients and local extension in 1 patient. For 316 patients who underwent curative surgery, 5-year and 10-year DFS rates were 88.4% and 75.3%, respectively. Poorly differentiated carcinoma and widely invasive carcinoma, together with some conventional prognostic factors, predicted poorer DFS of patients. On multivariate analysis, poorly differentiated carcinoma was an independent prognostic factor for DFS. The 5-year and 10-year CSS rates for these 334 patients were 96.4% and 90.4%, respectively. Curative surgery and poorly differentiated carcinoma were recognized as independent prognostic factors. We can hypothesize that follicular carcinoma in Japan is generally a nonaggressive disease with a good prognosis. However, because poorly differentiated or widely invasive carcinomas showed a worse prognosis, postoperative pathological examination is important in predicting patient prognosis.

Genetic and Biological Subgroups of Low-Stage Follicular Thyroid Cancer

Investigations of cancer-specific gene rearrangements have increased our understanding of human neoplasia and led to the use of the rearrangements in pathological diagnosis of blood cell and connective tissue malignancies. Here, we have investigated 3p25 rearrangements of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) gene in follicular epithelial tumors of the human thyroid gland. Eleven of 42 (26%) low-stage follicular carcinomas, 0 of 40 follicular adenomas, 1 of 30 Hurthle cell carcinomas, 1 of 90 papillary carcinomas, and 0 of 10 nodular goiters had 3p25 rearrangements by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization. All 11 follicular carcinomas with 3p25 rearrangement exhibited strong, diffuse nuclear immunoreactivity for PPAR gamma, consistent with expression of PPAR gamma fusion protein. Twelve of 42 (29%) low-stage follicular carcinomas had 3p25 aneusomy without PPAR gamma rearrangement (P = 0.01), suggesting that PPAR gamma rearrangement and aneuploidy are independent early events in follicular cancer. Eleven of 12 follicular carcinomas with 3p25 aneusomy exhibited no PPAR gamma immunoreactivity, supporting the existence of two independent pathways. Follicular carcinoma patients with PPAR gamma rearrangement more frequently had vascular invasion (P = 0.01), areas of solid/nested tumor histology (P < 0.001), and previous non-thyroid cancers (P < 0.01) compared with follicular carcinoma patients without PPAR gamma rearrangement. Our experiments identify genetic subgroups of low-stage follicular thyroid cancer and provide evidence that follicular carcinomas with PPAR gamma rearrangement are a distinct biological entity. The findings support a model in which separate genetic alterations initiate distinct pathways of oncogenesis in thyroid carcinoma subtypes.

Clinical study on prognostic factors in thyroid carcinoma

We treated 227 patients, 45 men and 182 women, with thyroid carcinoma at our hospital from 1984 to 1998. Of these, 177 had papillary carcinoma and 50 follicular carcinoma. The extent of resection was based on tumor size in papillary carcinoma but not follicular carcinoma, and 70% of carcinoma patients underwent hemithyroidectomy. Neck lymph nodes were resected in 93.2% of papillary carcinoma patients, with D1 neck dissection in 45.7% and D2 or D3 neck dissection in 47.5%. In contrast, 70% of follicular carcinoma patients with lymph node resection had D1 dissection. Locoregional recurrence was noted in 22 patients and distant metastasis in 6 cases. Nonsurvivors numbered 17, 12 papillary and 5 follicular carcinoma patients, died of their primary disease. Almost all deaths were in patients with advanced disease, pT3 in 3, pT4 in 10, N1a in 3 and N1b in 8. The prognostic factors for papillary carcinoma were extracapsular spread, age, and distant metastasis, while the only factor for follicular carcinoma was distant metastasis. The 5-year survival for patients with papillary carcinoma was 93.0% and 10-year survival 88.8%, compared to 5-year survival for 93.5% of follicular carcinoma patients and 10-year survival for 93.5%.

Patterns of care for patients with primary differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid gland treated in Germany during 1996. U.S. and German Thyroid Cancer Group.

To determine current patterns of care and disease characteristics for patients with thyroid carcinoma, a Patient Care Evaluation Study was initiated in 1996 in the U.S. and Germany. This project addresses ongoing concerns with respect to the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma and raises questions concerning how physicians are interpreting current standards and acting on the basis of these recommendations. Patients with primary thyroid carcinoma were entered into a prospective multicenter observational study with free choice of treatment (no control group) between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 1996 in Germany. This resulted in a total of 2537 cases under observation and analysis; 1685 patients had papillary carcinoma (66.4%), 691 had follicular carcinoma (27.2%), 70 had medullary carcinoma (2.8%), and 91 had anaplastic carcinoma (3.6%). The 2376 patients with carcinoma of either papillary or follicular histology were included in the current analysis. The major symptoms reported for patients with papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma was neck mass (reported in 76% and 79%, respectively) followed by dysphagia (reported in 25% and 27%, respectively), stridor (reported in 9% and 14%, respectively), and neck pain (reported in 7% and 8%, respectively). Greater than 50% of the patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were reported to have American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer Stage I disease. Between 37-39% of the follicular carcinoma patients had Stage I and Stage II disease. Only slight differences in the diagnostic approach to patients with papillary or follicular carcinoma were noted. The majority of patients underwent an ultrasound of the thyroid region (78.1%), which was suggestive of carcinoma in only 39% of the cases. A thyroid scan was performed on 76.6% of patients, and the results were suggestive of carcinoma in 44.8% of the individuals. In contrast, fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid is highly recommended in the current Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) but results were obtained in only 27.4% of the patients. Total thyroidectomy without lymph node dissection was the most commonly used surgical procedure in the treatment of patients with papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma. Only approximately 2% of patients at low risk in the group with Stage I disease were treated with a lobectomy. In 80% of the patients with Stage I papillary thyroid carcinoma and approximately 90% of those patients diagnosed with Stage II, III, and IV disease treating physicians chose to utilize radioiodine as adjuvant treatment after disease-directed surgery. External beam radiation was added to the treatment regimen for many patients diagnosed with Stage III and IV disease (30% in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma and 33% in patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma). To the authors' knowledge no single effective diagnostic test for thyroid carcinoma currently is available and in the majority of cases a combination of ultrasound, thyroid scan, or fine-needle aspiration biopsy together with the clinical findings (e.g., thyroid mass) led to a diagnosis of carcinoma. The authors suspect that the high prevalence of concomitant pathologic findings such as goiter, even in the healthy population in Germany, reduces the accuracy of all diagnostic test methods and may account for the frequent use of imaging techniques. The majority of patients underwent a total or near-total thyroidectomy. Total thyroidectomy with radical lymph node dissection was used very frequently in those patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (22%). German physicians tend to surgically treat early stage thyroid carcinoma somewhat more radically than recommended in the CPG. With respect to other treatment options employed as part of the first course of treatment, radioiodine appears to play the most important role. [See commentary o

Use of radioactive iodine for thyroid remnant ablation in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma to replace thyroid reoperation.

Complete thyroidectomy was recommended for patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma to remove any potential residual contralateral cancer tissue and to facilitate detection of metastatic lesions by radioactive iodide (131I). Unfortunately, 8-32% incidence of severe complications were noted after reoperation. At present, there are still not enough data about the ablative effect of 131I for such conservative surgical treatment of well-differentiated thyroid cancers. The major goal of the present study was to examine the effects of 311I for ablation of thyroid remnants in order to obviate the severe complications associated with reoperation. From January 1977 to December 1995, 210 papillary or follicular thyroid carcinoma patients received subtotal thyroidectomy or lobectomy. After the operation, 46 of the 210 patients received 131I for remnant ablation. At doses of > or = 30 mCi 131I, 38 thyroid remnants were successfully ablated; 25 of 38 (65.8%) patients successfully ablated patients received 30 mCi 131I one-four times. Five patients expired during the follow-up period, including two follicular carcinoma patients who were misinterpreted as having benign lesions in the first operation. Patients in the overall failure versus success group for thyroid remnant ablation revealed increased age, histopathology of follicular carcinoma, higher postoperative 131I uptake in the neck bed, higher postoperative thyroglobulin levels, bigger tumor size, and higher mortality. In conclusion, repeated 30 mCi 131I treatments were adequate for most thyroid remnant ablations following subtotal thyroidectomy or lobectomy in well-differentiated thyroid cancer patients. Misinterpretation of follicular cancer as benign lesions and unresectable tumor comprised the main reasons for mortality.

Pattern of metastasis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Total 60 patients were selected as per described criteria from the department of Otolaryngology and head neck surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka from January 2005 to October 2006. In this study of 60 patients of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), majority of the patients are within 31-50 yrs age group with female predominance. Papillary carcinoma was more common in 31-40 yrs age group and follicular carcinoma was more common in 41-50 years. Thyroid swelling was the most common presenting symptom of DTC (91.66%), followed by cervical lymphadenopathy (33.33%). Among the 60 DTC patients, papillary carcinoma was commoner (73.33%) than follicular carcinoma (26.67%). Overall female-male ratio for these 60 patients of DTC was 1.72: 1, but in papillary type the ratio was 1.44:1. and for follicular carcinoma was 3:1. Out of 44 papillary carcinoma patients 18 patients had cervical lymph node metastasis (40.90%), and out of 16 follicular carcinoma patients 2 had cervical lymph node metastasis (12.50%); P &lt; 0.05. Among the 44 papillary carcinoma patients only 1 had distant metastasis (2.27%), and among the 16 follicular carcinoma patients 4 had distant metastasis (25%); P &lt;0.05. 85% of the patients were presented with unilateral and 15% were presented with bilateral lymph node metastasis. In this series, distant metastasis was found in bone and lung, Maximum lymph node metastasis was found in level II (42.10%), level III (57.89%) and level IV (42.10%). Finally the Chi-square (x2) significance test was performed according to above described findings and it was found that there is significant difference in the pattern of lymph node metastasis and of distant metastasis between papillary and follicular type of DTC (P&lt;0.05). Key words: Thyroid carcinoma; Metastasis. DOI: 10.3329/bjo.v15i2.5059 Bangladesh J Otorhinolaryngol 2009; 15(2): 60-68