Whether Detection of Gene Mutations Could Identify Low- or High-Risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma? Data from 393 Cases Using the Next-Generation Sequencing
Table 2
Clinicopathological characteristics and genetic alterations of 393 PTCs subdivided into cN0 and cN1 groups.
Total
cN0
cN1
n = 393
n = 300
n = 93
Gender
M
119 (30.3%)
83 (27.7%)
36 (38.7%)
0.043
F
274 (69.7%)
217 (72.3%)
57 (61.3%)
Age at diagnosis (years)
43.2 ± 12.0
43.8 ± 12.0
41 ± 11.9
0.048
Maximum tumor size (mm)
Mean ± SD
7.6 ± 3.3
7.3 ± 3.2
8.8 ± 3.4
<0.001
Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis
Yes
71 (18.1%)
47 (15.7%)
24 (25.8%)
0.026
No
322 (81.9%)
253 (84.3%)
69 (74.2%)
Bilateralism
Yes
84 (21.4%)
50 (16.7%)
34 (36.6%)
<0.001
No
309 (78.6%)
250 (83.3%)
59 (63.4%)
Multifocality
Yes
153 (38.9%)
105 (35.0%)
48 (51.6%)
0.004
No
240 (61.1%)
195 (65.0%)
45 (48.4%)
Intrathyroid spread
Yes
16 (4.1%)
6 (2.0%)
10 (10.8%)
0.001
No
377 (95.9%)
294 (98.0%)
83 (89.2%)
Extrathyroidal extension
Yes
54 (13.7)
35 (11.7%)
19 (20.4%)
0.032
No
339 (86.3%)
265 (88.3%)
74 (79.6%)
Lymph node metastases
No
167 (42.5%)
161 (53.7%)
6 (6.4%)
<0.001
Central compartment
157 (40.0%)
139 (46.3%)
18 (19.4%)
<0.001
Laterocervical compartment
8 (2%)
0 (0%)
8 (8.6%)
<0.001
Central +
61 (15.5%)
0 (0%)
61 (65.6%)
<0.001
Latercervical compartment
>5
96 (24.4%)
34 (11.3%)
62 (66.7%)
<0.001
≤5
297 (75.6%)
266 (88.7%)
31 (33.3%)
Staging (VIII ed. TNM)
I
358 (91.1%)
277 (92.3%)
81 (87.1%)
0.121
II
35 (8.9%)
23 (7.7%)
12 (12.9%)
Tumor recurrence
Yes
9 (2.3%)
5 (1.7%)
4 (4.3%)
0.225
No
381 (97.0%)
293 (97.7%)
88 (94.6%)
0.165
n.a.
3 (0.7%)
2 (0.6%)
1 (1.0%)
0.556
BRAFV600E mutation
Yes
332 (84.5%)
252 (84.0%)
80 (86%)
0.638
No
61 (15.5%)
48 (16.0%)
13 (14%)
KRAS mutation
wt.
391 (99.5%)
299 (99.7%)
92 (98.9%)
0.418
Q61K
2 (0.5%)
1 (0.3%)
1 (1.1%)
NRAS mutation
wt.
391 (99.5%)
298 (99.3%)
93 (100%)
1.000
Q61R
2 (0.5%)
2 (0.7%)
0 (0%)
RET/PTC
wt.
382 (97.2%)
294 (98.0%)
88 (94.6%)
0.140
RET/PTC1
8 (2.0%)
5 (1.7%)
3 (3.2%)
0.400
RET/PTC3
3 (0.8%)
1 (0.3%)
2 (2.2%)
0.141
wt: wild type, na: not available, and PTC: papillary thyroid carcinoma. Clinically apparent metastatic disease to nodes (cN1) was defined as LN metastasis in the central or lateral neck suspected by ultrasonography or computed tomography and proved by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) and the washout of thyroglobulin preoperatively. Data are expressed as mean ± SD or absolute number (%). Comparison between cN0 and cN1 groups was performed by ANOVA or chi-square test when appropriate. Significant differences are shown in bold characters .