Risk factors for high-volume lymph node metastases in cN0 papillary thyroid microcar-cinoma / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective: Lymph node metastasis (LNM) often occurs in cN0 papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). The risk factors for lymph node metastasis, especially for high-volume metastasis, were investigated in this study. Methods: The medical records of 1,268 consecutive PTMC patients admitted in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2013 to 2014 were reviewed. Their clinical and pathological features were collected. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for LNM/highvolume LNM. Results: Of the 1,268 patients, 416 patients (32.8％) and 43 (3.4％) had LNM and high-volume LNM, respectively. According to the univariate analysis results for the risk factors of LNM, male (42.22％ vs. 30.26％, P0.5 cm (35.77％ vs. 23.05％, P0.5 cm are independent risk factors for LNM (OR=1.516, 1.743, and 1.788, respectively, all P0.5 cm (4.01％ vs. 1.36％, P=0.027) are associated with high-volume LNM. In multivariate analysis, the results suggest that being male is an independent risk factor for LNM (OR=2.383, P=0.002), whereas age of 40-59 years is a protective factor for LNM (OR=0.270, P<0.001). Conclusion: Lymph node metastasis often ocucrs in cN0 PTMC, whereas high-volume LNM is rare. Being male and <40 years old are risk factors for both LNM and highvolume LNM.