The influence of age and thyroglobulin antibody positive level on the prognosis of differentiated thyroid cancer / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factors of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients with positive thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) and varying ages after operation and 131I treatment. To explore the value of TgAb level and its change in the prognosis of DTC patients. Methods:Clinical data of 131 TgAb positive DTC patients were retrospectively analyzed. According to age, they were divided into young group(age<55 years, n=95) and elder group (age≥55 years, n=36). According to response, it was divided into excellent response group (110 cases) and non-excellent response group (21 cases). χ2 test and t test were used to compare the clinicopathological features between excellent response group and non-excellent response group. By logistic regression analysis, the independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the TgAb value of persistent or recurrent DTC, and the Kaplan-Meier regression curve was used to analyze the time of TgAb becoming negative. P<0.05 was statistically significant. Results:In young patients, the higher serum TgAb level before 131I treatment and the lateral lymph node metastasis were the independent influencing factors of poor prognosis [ OR=0.89(95% CI 0.83-0.95), OR=0.15(95% CI 0.05-0.52); both P<0.05]. In elder group, extraglandular invasion and higher serum TgAb before 131I treatment were associated with poorer prognosis [ OR=0.05(95% CI 0-0.83), OR=0.91(95% CI 0.76-1.13); P<0.05]. The serum TgAb thresholds for predicting DTC persistence/recurrence were 315.5 IU/mL(246.0 IU/mL in the young group and 516.5 IU/mL in the elder group). The mean time TgAb sera turned negative was (26.37±2.22) months [(23.28±2.37) months for young group and (32.64±4.07) months for elder group]. The TgAb decreased >50% in one year of the patients who had a lower probability of disease persistence/recurrence than the group without ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The high level of serum TgAb before 131I treatment and lateral lymph node metastasis were independent factors of poor prognosis in young patients, while in elder patients, extraglandular tumor invasion and the high level of serum TgAb before 131I treatment were independent factors of poor prognosis. The rate of TgAb change one year after treatment may be used as an early marker for predicting the disease status of TgAb positive patients.