Hear the Patient's Voice Regarding Implementation of Thyroid Cancer Active Surveillance in China

Active Surveillance for Low-Risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma in China: A Prospective Study on Progression, Influencing Factors, and Cost-Effectiveness

BACKGROUND

The rising detection rate of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) necessitates effective management strategies to prevent overtreatment. Active surveillance (AS) has emerged as a potential solution; however, its applicability and cost-effectiveness within China's healthcare system need further investigation. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and economic benefits of AS for Chinese patients with PTMC.

METHODS

This prospective study enrolled 145 PTMC patients at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai. We analyzed progression risk factors and compared 5-year medical costs between AS and immediate surgery (IS), employing SPSS 26 and R for Kaplan-Meier and COX survival analyses.

RESULTS

Among the 145 participants, 105 completed the study. According to the Kaplan-Meier analysis, the cumulative progression rate in our study was 13% (95% CI: 0.05-0.20) over 35 months. Among these patients, 26 underwent surgery, and a higher lymph node metastasis rate was observed in patients with disease progression (61.5%) compared to those without progression (7.7%). Risk factors for PTMC progression included calcification, age, and tumor size. Economically, AS was theoretically more cost-effective than IS. The medical expense of IS with subsequent 5 years follow-up was approximately 6 times higher than that of a 5-year regimen of AS.

CONCLUSIONS

AS is a cost-effective option for managing low-risk PTMC in China. High resolution ultrasonography allowed to detect disease progression. Patients younger than 40 years, the presence of initial tumor microcalcifications, and tumor size exceeding 7 mm were significantly associated with disease progression. Further validation of these findings is needed with larger sample sizes.

The role of immune cells and immune related genes in the tumor microenvironment of papillary thyroid cancer and their significance for immunotherapy

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common pathological type of thyroid cancer (THCA) and shows a better prognosis than other types. However, further research is needed to determine the risk of PTC. We herein used the CIBERSORT algorithm to analyze the gene-expression profile obtained from TCGA, estimated the infiltration ratio of 22 immune cell types in tumor tissues and normal tissues, analyzed the differential expression of immune-related genes, and identified immune cells and immune-related genes related to clinical progress and prognosis. We uncovered 12 immune cell types and nine immune-related genes that were closely correlated with TNM staging, and two immune cell types (activated NK cells and γδT cells) and one immune-related gene (CD40LG) that were associated with prognosis. After evaluation, four immune cell types could be used to determine low-risk PTC, with six immune cell types and six immune-related genes closely associated with high-risk PTC. The type and quantity of infiltrating immune cells in the microenvironment of PTC, as well as immune-related genes, appear to be closely related to tumor progression and can therefore be used as important indicators for the evaluation of patient prognosis. We posit that the study of immune cells and immune-related genes in the tumor microenvironment will facilitate the determination of low-risk PTC more accurately, and that this will greatly promote the development of high-risk PTC immunotherapy.

Preoperative Serum Thyroglobulin Levels Predict Radioiodine Therapy Outcome in Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma Patients

Our previous study showed that elevated preoperative thyroglobulin (pre-Tg) level predicted the risk of developing radioiodine refractory in PTC patients. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of pre-Tg in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). After a specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, a total of 788 PTMCs were enrolled from Jiangyuan Hospital affiliated to Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine between Jan 2015 and Dec 2019. Among them, 107 PTMCs were treated with radioiodine therapy (RAIT) and the response to therapy was grouped as excellent response (ER), and non-excellent response (NER: indeterminate response, IDR and biochemical incomplete response, BIR). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors for the response of RAIT in PTMCs. Higher pre-Tg levels were detected in PTMCs with RAIT as compared with PTMCs without RAIT (p=0.0018). Higher levels of pre-Tg were also found in patients with repeated RAIT as compared with patients with single RAIT (p<0.0001). Furthermore, pre-Tg level was higher in PTMC with IDR (n=16) and much higher in BIR (n=9) as compared with patients with ER (n=82, p=0.0003) after RAIT. Multivariate analysis showed that pre-Tg level over 16.79 ng/ml [OR: 6.55 (2.10-20.39), p=0.001] was the only independent predictor for NER in PTMC with RAIT. We found that high level of pre-Tg predicted a poor RAIT outcome in PTMC. Our finding explores a prospective way in identifying high-risk PTMCs with poor response to RAIT.