Table 2.
Clinical characteristics of patients with clinical recurrence
| Patient No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Age/Sex | 46/M | 32/M | 43/M | 38/F | 60/F | 44/F | 63/F |
| Initial Surgical extent | TT, MRND | TT, CND | TT, MRND | TT, MRND | TT, MRND | TT, CND | TT, MRND |
| I-131 Remnant ablation | done | Done | done | done | Done | done | done |
| Just before recurrence | |||||||
| sTg (ng/mL) | 58.6 | 34.4 | 17.3 | 13.8 | 33 | 21.5 | 20.7 |
| TgAb | negative | Negative | negative | positive | negative | negative | negative |
| Disease free survival (months) | 9 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 31 | 35 | 43 |
| Type of recurrence (Level of recurrent node confirmed by reoperation)c | regional (i/l II, III, IV) | regional (i/l III, SCN) | regional (i/l II, III, IV) | regional (i/l II, III, IV, SCN, VII) | regional (thyroid bed) | regional (i/l IV; c/l III, IV) | regional (i/l II, III, IV) |
| Additional treatment | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I, EBRT | surgery | surgery, 131I, EBRT | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I |
| Follow-up | |||||||
| sTg (ng/mL) | UD | 12.6 | 1.1 | 8.7 | 944a | 12.4 | 40.0b |
| TgAb | negative | negative | negative | positive | negative | negative | negative |
| Patient No. | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Age/Sex | 42/F | 50/F | 40/F | 43/F | 32/F | 40 M | 33/M |
| Initial Surgical extent | TT, MRND | STT | LOB | LOB | LOB, CND | LOB, CND | LOB, CND |
| I-131 Remnant ablation | done | not done | not done | not done | not done | not done | not done |
| Just before recurrence | |||||||
| sTg (ng/mL) | 1.1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TgAb | neg | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Disease free survival (months) | 99 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 44 | 53 | 63 |
| Type of recurrence (Level of recurrent node confirmed by reoperation)c | regional (i/l II, III) | regional (i/l III, IV) | local (c/l lobe) | local (c/l lobe) | local (c/l lobe) | local (c/l lobe) | local (c/l lobe) |
| Additional treatment | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I | follow-up loss | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I | surgery, 131I |
| Follow-up | |||||||
| sTg (ng/mL) | UD | UD | UD | UD | UD | UD | |
| TgAb | negative | positive | negative | negative | negative | negative | |
a Chest CT suggested multiple lung metastases. This patient underwent additional surgery and radioiodine treatment, but no iodide uptake was noted during a post-treatment whole body scan. This patient, however, showed progressive, multiple, unresectable, cervical, mediastinal, and lung metastases, and EBRT was performed to control locally advanced disease.
b Chest CT and FDG-PET suggested multiple lung metastases. This patient underwent additional surgery and radioiodine treatment, but no iodide uptake was noted during a post-treatment whole body scan. This was followed by thyroxine suppression, with no definitive evidence of disease progression observed on serial chest CT scans.
sTg, stimulated thyroglobulin; TT, total thyroidectomy; STT, subtotal thyroidectomy; LOB, lobectomy; CND, central neck node dissection; MRND, modified radical neck dissection; UD, undetectable; N/A, not applicable; i/l, ipsilateral; c/l, contralateral; EBRT, external beam radiation treatment.