Clinicopathological relevance of antithyroglobulin antibodies in low-risk papillary thyroid cancer.

Morand, G.B.; Silva, S.D.; Mlynarek, A.M.; Black, M.J.; Payne, R.J.; Hier, M.P.

Objective The extent of initial surgical management in papillary thyroid cancer ( PTC) is controversial. We examined whether the presence of perioperative antithyroglobulin antibodies ( TGA) could predict long-term recurrence and occurrence of adverse features among a homogenous group of patients with PTC. Methods The clinical features of patients with PTC treated at a single institution (Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada) were obtained from the medical records, and all clinicopathologic information was reviewed. Only low-risk PTC without clinical evidence of nodal disease before surgery and treated with 30 mCi of radioactive iodine was included in the study. Results The chart review retrieved 361 patients with a median follow-up of 85.0 months (Q25-Q75 73-98). Forty-two (11.6%) patients had presence of perioperative TGA. Perioperative TGAs were associated with present extrathyroidal extension ( P=.005), unsuspected nodal disease ( P=.001) and autoimmune thyroiditis ( P<.0001). Overall, 17 (4.7%) patients experienced locoregional recurrence. Perioperative TGAs were a significant predictor of recurrence in univariable ( P=.021) but not in multivariable analysis ( P=.13). Conclusion Presence of perioperative TGAs is associated with aggressive histological features and the presence of thyroiditis. Detection of TGA perioperatively may encourage surgeons to consider more extensive initial surgery.

IMMUNOGLOBULIN analysis; THYROID cancer diagnosis; THYROID cancer treatment; IODINE isotopes; THYROID cancer patients

Clinical Otolaryngology, 2017, Vol 42, Issue 6, p1130

1749-4478

Academic Journal

10.1111/coa.12835