Web-based thyroid imaging reporting and data system: Malignancy risk of atypia of undetermined significance or follicular lesion of undetermined significance thyroid nodules calculated by a combination of ultrasonography features and biopsy results

Pediatric head and neck sarcomas: a retrospective study from a national tertiary referral center

This study aims to analyze the demographics, therapeutic approaches, and outcomes of pediatric sarcomas of the head and neck treated at a single tertiary referral center. We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of all pediatric patients diagnosed with head and neck sarcomas treated at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center during 2002-2021. Clinical data, oncologic and surgical treatments, and outcome measures were retrieved from electronic medical files. A total of 52 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at diagnosis was 7.25 ± 6.04 years (range 2 months to 20 years), and the male-to-female ratio was 1.4: 1. The leading histological subtypes were rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) (50%) followed by Ewing sarcoma (23%). The vast majority (96%) of patients were treated with multimodal therapy that included chemotherapy, surgical resection, and/or radiation therapy. Twenty-nine (55.8%) patients underwent surgical resection. The average follow-up was 4.75 years (range 5 months to 13.5 years). The 1-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival rates were 89.5%, 81.3%, and 62.5%, respectively. Male sex, Ewing sarcoma, and non-metastatic disease at diagnosis were associated with better disease-free survival (DFS) (p = 0.008, p = 0.048, and p = 0.038, respectively). Patients with sarcomas suitable for surgical resection and those who received adjuvant therapy had significantly better DFS (p = 0.003 and p = 0.025, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Head and neck sarcomas in the pediatric population are best managed by a multidisciplinary team. Surgical resection and the integration of adjuvant therapy in selected patients confer survival benefit.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Head and neck sarcomas pose a considerable challenge to physicians due to their rarity, their heterogenic presentation, and their proximity to vital structures.

WHAT IS NEW

• A multimodal therapeutic approach that includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical resection when feasible should be provided to these patients in order to optimize survival outcomes. Surgical resection and the integration of adjuvant therapy in selected patients confer survival benefit.

Integrated intraoperative predictive model for malignancy risk assessment of thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance cytology

Management of thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) cytology is challenging because of uncertain malignancy risk. Intraoperative frozen section pathology provides real-time diagnosis for AUS/FLUS nodules undergoing surgery, but its accuracy is limited. This study aimed to develop an integrated predictive model combining clinical, ultrasound and IOFS features to improve intraoperative malignancy risk assessment. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with AUS/FLUS cytology and negative BRAFV600E mutation who underwent thyroid surgery. The cohort was randomly divided into training and validation sets. Clinical, ultrasound, and pathological features were extracted for analysis. Three models were developed: an IOFS model with IOFS results as sole predictor, a clinical model integrating clinical and ultrasound features, and an integrated model combining all features. Model performance was evaluated using comprehensive metrics in both sets. The superior model was visualized as a nomogram. Among 531 included patients, the integrated model demonstrated superior diagnostic ability, predictive performance, calibration, and clinical utility compared to other models. It exhibited AUC values of 0.92 in the training set and 0.95 in the validation set. The nomogram provides a practical tool for estimating malignancy probability intraoperatively. This study developed an innovative integrated predictive model for intraoperative malignancy risk assessment of AUS/FLUS nodules. By combining clinical, ultrasound, and IOFS features, the model enhances IOFS diagnostic sensitivity, providing a reliable decision-support tool for optimizing surgical strategies.

Subcategorisation of AUS/FLUS thyroid lesions as per the 2017 Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology: a retrospective study from a tertiary care centre analysing risk of malignancy (ROM) of the different subcategories

Aims

The 2017 Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) recommends subclassification of atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) into six subcategories. The present study evaluates the risk of malignancy (ROM) and risk of neoplasm (RON) among these.

Methods

All thyroid aspirates reported as AUS/FLUS over a 4.5-year period, with available histology, were reviewed and subclassified as per TBSRTC. ROM and RON were calculated and compared.

Results

Of 2554 thyroid aspirates, 281 (11.0%) were AUS/FLUS. Eighty-one with available histology were evaluated. ROM was 51.8%. Cytologic and architectural atypia (AUS-C&A) was the most prevalent (62.9%), followed by Hürthle cell type (19.6%), AUS-A (11.1%), AUS-not otherwise specified (NOS) (7.4%), cytologic atypia (AUS-C) (4.9%) and atypical lymphoid cells (1.2%). Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and adenomatous goitre (AG) were the most common histological diagnoses (27% each). On histology, AUS-C had 2/4 PTC and 2/4 AG on histology. AUS-A had 4/9 follicular neoplasm (FN) and 2/9 non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP) while AUS C&A had 18/51 PTC, 13/51 AG, 11/51 NIFTP and 5/51 FN. ROM and RON were similar across subcategories, ROM was the highest for AUS-C&A (58.8%), AUS-C (50%) and AUS-NOS (50%). NIFTP reclassification as non-malignant reduced ROM to 35.8% (absolute reduction of 16% and a relative decrease of 31%) with the greatest relative decrease seen in AUS-A (50%), followed by AUS-C&A (37%), and none in others.

Conclusions

AUS/FLUS subcategorisation helped to indicate risk for the more likely neoplasm, whether PTC or FN. ROM was the highest for cases with cytological atypia but did not differ significantly across different subcategories. NIFTP changed the ROM of AUS-A and AUS-C&A, since both NIFTP and FN have microfollicles.

Core needle biopsy in the management of thyroid nodules with an indeterminate fine-needle aspiration report

Ultrasonography (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) cytology is widely used but is limited due to its pathologically indeterminate results in diagnosing thyroid nodules. Recently, US-guided core-needle biopsy (CNB) was introduced as an effective and safe technique for diagnosing indeterminate thyroid nodules. Using CNB, information about architectural histologic structure such as nodule capsule or more immunochemical staining can be obtained which lead to a more accurate diagnosis. Up to 98% of indeterminate thyroid lesions can be classified as malignant or benign when CNB is used for follow-up analysis. Other evidences revealed the effectiveness of CNB in reducing inconclusive results and improving the diagnostic performance of thyroid nodules initially diagnosed as AUS/FLUS by FNAB. In this review, we investigate how to deal with indeterminate thyroid nodules diagnosed by FNAB and determine how CNB has a role in diagnosing these indeterminate thyroid nodules.

Validation of web-based thyroid imaging reporting and data system in atypia or follicular lesion of undetermined significance thyroid nodules

BACKGROUND

Atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) show variable malignancy risk. We validated the web-based predictive models and the scoring system by the American College of Radiology (ACR) for AUS/FLUS nodules to stratify the malignancy risk.

METHODS

From January 2011 to November 2014, 275 consecutive nodules diagnosed as AUS/FLUS were enrolled. The discrimination and calibration ability of a web-based scoring with inclusion of biopsy result and sonographic features, old web-based scoring model without biopsy result, and ACR models were assessed.

RESULTS

The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the validation set were 0.670 for the new web-based model, 0.710 for the old web-based model, and 0.732 for the ACR scoring risk-stratification model. All models were well calibrated.

CONCLUSION

The web-based scoring risk-stratification model using the combined information of ultrasonography features and biopsy result for AUS/FLUS nodules to stratify malignancy risk presents an acceptable predictive accuracy.