Positron emission tomography (PET) is a highly sensitive and low invasive technology for cancer biological imaging. Integrated PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) cameras combine functional and anatomical information in a synergistic manner that improves diagnostic interpretation. The role of 18F FDG PET/CT in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is well established, particularly in patients presenting with elevated thyroglobulin (Tg) levels and negative radioactive iodine scan. This review presents the evidence supporting the use of 18F FDG PET/CT throughout the diagnosis and management of thyroid cancer, and provides suggestions for its clinical uses.
Lung metastases are more common in metastatic disease in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Because of its insidious onset and slow development, clinical diagnosis is relatively difficult. Some possible diagnostic methods for detecting the lung metastasis of DTC including serological examination, radionuclide imaging and other medical imaging patterns are discussed in this paper. The progress and the current situation about investigation of those modalities which are in the early diagnosis, recurrent and clinical evaluation for the lung metastasis of DTC are briefly reviewed. Therefore, it is expected to promote DTC with lung metastasis to a higher diagnostic level.
Thyroglobulin (Tg) and radioiodine whole body scan (WBS) have been commonly used in follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Tg is associated with radioiodine uptake in local or distant metastases. In minority of patients, the follow-up scan shows no functioning thyroid tissue, but the serum thyroglobulin is still elevated. Therefore, we review recent developments of diagnosis and treatment of those patients with differentiated thyroid cancer and with thyroglobulin elevation but negative iodine scintigraphy.
Galectin-3 and human bone marrow endothelial cell marker (HBME-1), which play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis, are good markers for thyroid cancer. The diagnosis specificity and accuracy for thyroid cancers have been increased with the application of 18F-fluordeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). The value of Galectin-3, HBME-1 expression and 18F-FDG imaging in differentiated thyroid carcinoma is reviewed in the present paper.
Objective To summarize the value of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) in diagnosis before surgery and monitoring after surgery for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Methods By using the method of literature review, the literatures related to the diagnosis and monitoring value of serum Tg for DTC were studied. Results ① Serum thyroglobulin had a certain value in diagnosis of thyroid nodules, especially in follicular cancer or Hürthle cancer whose diagnosis undetermined by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and it was closely linked with the tumor’s size and distant metastasis of the DTC. ② Raise of serum Tg postoperatively was important for judging the recurrence and metastasis of DTC. However, how to establish an appropriate threshold of serum Tg, identify the differences of results for different measurement methods, make the accurate judgment for false positive and false negative, and combine with other imaging methods appropriately, needed our attention. Conclusion Serum Tg plays a very important role in diagnosis before surgery and monitoring after surgery of DTC, clinical doctors need pay high attention on it.
Objective To analyze clinical features of reoperation patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, and to explore reason, surgical pattern and therapeutic effectiveness of reoperation. Method The clinical data of 80 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer underwent reoperation from January 2012 to June 2016 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Results ① Eighty (5.37%) patients with differentiated thyroid cancer underwent reoperation were identified from a total of 1 491 patients with thyroid cancer in our treatment team. Twenty-seven cases were males, 53 cases were females. The male to female ratio was 1∶1.96. The age was (44±13) years with a range from 14 to 66 years. The median time between reoperation and the first operation was 16.8 months with a range from 8 days to 17 years. ② Thirteen cases underwent reoperation because of uncertain frozen sections, and the reoperation style was residual lobectomy and selective lymph node dissection. Sixty-seven cases underwent reoperation because of local recurrence or metastasis, 15 of them accepted residual lobectomy and selective lymph node dissection while the other 52 accepted selective lymph node dissection. ③ The rate of residual in thyroid cancer confirmed by postoperative pathology was 18.8% (15/80). The rate of cervical lymph node metastasis was 63.8% (51/80). The temporary laryngeal recurrent nerve injury occured in 6 cases, the temporary hypocalcemia occured in 9 cases, and the lymphorrhagia occured in 2 cases. ④ The hospitalization time was (6.50±0.97) d with a range from 3 to10 d, the time of drainage tube remove was (2.41 ±0.95) d with a range from 2 to 7 d. Seventy-three cases were followed up from 3 to 58 months with (32±18) months, 4 of them underwent operation once again because of local recurrence, no distant metastasis or death happened. ⑤ The proportion of male patients in reoperation patients was significantly higher than that of the first operation patients (P<0.05). The proportion of patients aged <45 years, the average hospitalization time, the average time of drainage tube remove, and the postoperative complications rate had no significant differences between the patients with the first operation and the patients with reoperation (P>0.05). Conclusions For reoperation patients, proportion of male patients is higher. Reoperation is proper treatment for patients with residual lobe or local recurrence or metastasis for differentiated thyroid cancer. Serious complications could be avoided by suitable surgical pattern and careful dissection during operation. Residual lobectomy and selective lymph node dissection are suggested for reoperation.
Objective To investigate the role of preoperative serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in evaluating differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Methods A total of 551 patients with thyroid nodules met the study criteria, who got treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University between Aug. 2017 and Dec. 2017. And the patients were divided into DTC group (n=110) and benign group (n=441) according to the postoperative pathological results. The difference of serum TSH level between the 2 groups was compared and then explored the diagnostic significance of serum TSH level, thyroid imaging report and data system (TI-RADS), and serum TSH combined withTI-RADS. Results The serum TSH level was higher in the DTC group than that of the benign group (Z=5.198, P<0.05). The sensitivity of preoperative serum TSH level in the diagnosis of DTC was 80.9% (89/110), the specificity was 74.4% (328/441), and the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.660 ［95%CI was (0.602, 0.719), P<0.05］. The sensitivity of TI-RADS in the diagnosis of DTC was 82.7% (91/110), the specificity was 73.5% (324/441), and the area under the ROC curve was 0.772 ［95%CI was (0.711, 0.823), P<0.05］. The sensitivity of preoperative serum TSH combined with TI-RADS in the diagnosis of DTC was 91.8% (101/110), the specificity was 87.5% (386/441), and the area under the ROC curve was 0.831 ［95%CI was (0.786, 0.876), P<0.05］. Conclusions Preoperative serum TSH level may be a potential risk factor for the occurrence of DTC. Preoperative serum TSH level combined with TI-RADS classification can improve the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis of DTC, not only to reduce the misdiagnosis of thyroid cancer, but also can avoid excessive treatment.
ObjectiveTo investigate the adequate surgical procedures for well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) located in the isthmus.MethodsNineteen patients with WDTC located in the isthmus were identified with WDTC and managed by surgery in Department of General Surgery in Xuanwu Hospital of Capital University from Jun. 2013 to May. 2018.ResultsAmong the nineteen cases, fifteen patients had a solitary malignant nodule confined to the isthmus, four patients had malignant nodules located separately in the isthmus and unilateral lobe. One patient received extended isthmusectomy as well as relaryngeal and pretracheal lymphectomy; six patients received isthmusectomy with unilateral lobectomy and central compartment lymph node dissection of unilateral lobe; four patients received isthmusectomy with unilateral lobectomy and subtotal thyroidectomy on the other lobe as well as central compartment lymph node dissection of unilateral lobe; seven patients received total thyroidectomy or isthmusectomy with unilateral lobectomy and nearly total thyroidectomy on the other lobe, as well as central compartment lymph node dissection of both sides; one patient received total thyroidectomy and central compartment lymph node dissection of both sides, as well as lateral thyroid lymph node dissection of both sides. The median operative time was 126 minutes (67–313 minutes), the median intraoperative blood loss was 30 mL (10–85 mL), and the median hospital stay was 6 days (4–11 days). Hypocalcemia occurred in 12 patients. There were no complications of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy or laryngeal nerve palsy occurred. All the nineteen patients were well followed. During the follow up period (14–69 months with median of 26 months), there were no complications of permanent hypoparathyroidism occurred, as well as the 5-year disease-specific survival rate and survival rate were both 100%.ConclusionsFor patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer located in the isthmus with different diameters and sentinel node status, individualized surgical procedures should be adopted.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of thyroid globulin antibody (TgAb) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) statuses on central lymph node (CLN) metastasis in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on 526 patients with DTC confirmed by pathology from nine participating institutions, who underwent the bilateral thyroidectomy plus bilateral CLN dissection. The clinicopathologic characteristics of different TGAb and TPOAb statuses of patients with DTC were compared, and whether the TGAb and TPOAb statuses were the independent risk factors of CLN metastasis in DTC patients or not was analyzed.ResultsAll of 526 patients with DTC were included in this study, 152 were males and 374 were females. The age was (44±11) years old. There were 63 cases of TgAb＋TPOAb＋, 60 cases of TgAb＋TPOAb－, 30 cases of TgAb－TPOAb＋, and 373 cases of TgAb－TPOAb－. It was found that there was a significant difference in the gender among the four different antibody statuses of patients, that was, women with abnormal antibodies were more common (P<0.001), not found that there were related to the tumor size, blood vessel invasion, nerve invasion, CLN metastasis, tumor multifocality, and bilateral tumor or not (P>0.050). In this study, there were 389 cases of CLN with metastasis and 137 cases of CLN without metastasis. The results of multivariate analysis found that the age and gender of the patients were the independent risk factors (P<0.001), but didn’t find the TgAb and TPOAb Statuses and other factors were related to the CLN metastasis (P>0.050).ConclusionsStatuses of TGAb and TPOAb aren’t obviously associated with CLN metastasis in patients with DTC, which is inconsistent with other studies. It needs to be further researched after expanding existing sample size and determining new predictive factors.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the reliability and stability of transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) and conventional open thyroidectomy (COT) in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer.MethodsThe clinical studies of TOETVA and COT in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer were retrieved from major databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, and CNKI by computer. The search date ended on March 1, 2020. Two investigators screened the literatures strictly and extracted the data following the pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and then used RevMan 5.3 software for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 7 studies including 1 465 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed: compared with the COT group, the operation time of the TOETVA group was longer [WMD=35.18, P=0.000 1], and the number of lymph node dissections in the central area was larger [WMD=1.42, P=0.000 5]. But the intraoperative blood loss [WMD=–5.32, P=0.39], the length of hospital stay after operation [WMD=0.05, P=0.94], the incidences of transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy [OR=0.81, P=0.43], transient hypocalcemia [OR=0.55, P=0.35], permanent hypocalcemia [OR=0.39, P=0.22], permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy [OR=1.34, P=0.73], and hematoma [OR=1.29, P=0.69] were not statistically significant between the two groups.ConclusionsTOETVA has a higher stability. Although the COT has a shorter operation time, the former has a higher central lymph node dissection rate, and there is no scar on the neck after surgery and no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications.