Clinical and pathological analysis of central compartment dissection in patients with papillary thyroid cancer with negative clinical lymph node metastasis / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the significance of central compartment dissection in papillary thyroid cancer with negative clinical lymph node metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical and pathological data of 641 papillary thyroid cancer patients with negative clinical lymph node metastasis who were treated from January 1998 to April 2006 were collected. The positive rate of the lymph nodes metastasis was analyzed. The relations between the central compartment lymph nodes and the patients' gender, age, tumor size and number were concerned. Among the 641 cases, 114 case who received operation more than five years were followed up for the relations between the pathological status of central compartment lymph nodes and ipsilateral neck metastasis or contra thyroid lobe recurrence.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The median number of the central compartment lymph nodes was 4 each case and 53.0% (340/641) cases of papillary thyroid cancer patients with negative clinical lymph node metastasis had positive central compartment lymph nodes metastasis. Large tumor size and multiple origins were related to central compartment lymph nodes involvement, but the patients' gender or age was not. In the 114 follow-up cases, ipsilateral neck metastasis occurred in 12 cases, among which 11 cases had high positive central compartment lymph nodes metastasis. Contra thyroid lobe recurrence occurred in 5 cases, whose statuses of central compartment lymph nodes were different.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Papillary thyroid cancer patients with negative clinical lymph node metastasis deserve formal central compartment dissection. The pathological status of central compartment lymph nodes relates to the tumor size and number. High positive rate of central compartment lymph nodes may lead to possible ipsilateral neck metastasis.</p>

Somatic mutations of mitochondrial DNA in thyroid papillary carcinoma / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the somatic mutations in the D-loop of mtDNA and further evaluate the possibility of mitochondrial genetic instability in thyroid papillary carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hypervariable regions ( HVR-I and HVR-II) in the D-loop of mtDNA from the specimen of 35 thyroid papillary cancers and matched lymphocytes were amplified by PCR, and then were sequenced.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Comparing the sequences of tumors to those of matched lymphocytes and normal thyroid tissues, 5 somatic mutations in 2 patients (5.7%) were found. Two mutations were insertions of C in a poly-cytidine (nt303) microsatellite, and 3 at positions 73, 152 and 194 in HVR-II. In addition, of the 294 genetic variants detected, 292 were previously recorded polymorphisms, whereas 2 were new polymorphisms (nt324:C-->G, nt16092:T-->A).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Mutations in the D-loop of mtDNA were found in thyroid papillary cancers, this mutation rate was lower than the reported rate of alteration in tumors of epithelial origin, and further work is required to elucidate the relationship between this mutations and the development of thyroid papillary carcinoma.</p>