Table 1.
Characteristics of Patients with PTC with or without CNLN
| Characteristics | Total (N = 1408) | CNLN group (N = 65) | Non-CNLN group (N = 1343) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at diagnosis, years | 45.2 ± 12.2 | 44.1 ± 13.1 | 45.2 ± 12.2 | 0.449 |
| Male gender | 292 (20.7) | 20 (30.8) | 272 (20.3) | 0.041 |
| Diameter of largest primary tumor (mm) | 13.5 ± 9.1 | 17.6 ± 8.5 | 13.3 ± 9.1 | <0.001 |
| Multifocality | 392 (27.8) | 31 (47.7) | 361 (26.9) | <0.001 |
| Lymphovascular invasion | 73 (5.2) | 10 (15.4) | 63 (4.7) | <0.001 |
| Minimal extrathyroid extension | 170 (12.1) | 31 (47.7) | 139 (10.3) | <0.001 |
| Macroscopic extrathyroid extension (T4) | 24 (1.7) | 9 (25.7) | 15 (1.1) | <0.001 |
| Special variants of PTC | 180 (12.8) | 11 (16.9) | 169 (12.6) | 0.306 |
| Mean no. of metastatic lymph nodes | 2.9 ± 4.8 | 6.5 ± 5.0 | 2.7 ± 4.7 | <0.001 |
| Distant metastasis | 46 (3.3) | 15 (23.1) | 31 (2.3) | <0.001 |
| Cancer-specific death | 13 (0.9) | 5 (7.7) | 8 (0.6) | <0.001 |
Data are expressed as n (%) or mean ± SD
Special variants of PTC include the trabecular subtype, follicular variant, solid variant, diffused sclerosing variant, tall-cell variant, and columnar cell variant