Table I.
Patient, laboratory, and pathology variables
| Patient characteristic | Measure (n = 104) | Therapeutic (sporadic) (n = 74) | Therapeutic (hereditary) (n = 17) | Prophylactic (n = 13) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean yrs (SD) | 47 (± 18.2) | 52 (± 14.8) | 41 (± 17.4) | 22 (± 12.9) | <.001 |
| Female, n (%) | 63 (61) | 46 (62) | 9 (53) | 8 (62) | .77 |
| Preoperative variables | |||||
| Preop serum calcitonin (pg/mL), median (IQR) | 643 (73–4,757) | 1,616 (315–5,914) | 834 (22–4,061) | 5 (5–9) | <.001 |
| Preop serum CEA (ng/mL), median (IQR) | 30 (2–108) | 36 (8–144) | 61 (1–139) | 0.7 (.5,1.4) | .002 |
| FNA calcitonin + stain* | 22/46 (48) | 18/40 (45) | 4/6 (67) | 0 (0) | .13 |
| FNA CEA + stain* | 6/46 (13) | 4/40 (10) | 2/6 (33) | 0 (0) | .39 |
| FNA chromogranin + stain* | 22/46 (48) | 18/40 (45) | 4/6 (67) | 0 (0) | .13 |
| Postoperative variables | |||||
| Median tumor size, cm (IQR) | 1.7 (0.9–3.0) | 1.9 (1.0–3.0) | 1.0 (0.4–2.5) | 0.1 (0.1–0.2) | .001 |
| C-cell hyperplasia, n (%) | 29 (28) | 6 (8) | 11 (65) | 12 (92) | <.001 |
| Lymphovascular invasion, n (%) | 20 (19) | 16 (22) | 4 (24) | 0 (0) | .14 |
| Extrathyroidal extension, n (%) | 12 (12) | 11 (15) | 1 (6) | 0 (0) | .34 |
| Multifocality, n (%) | 27 (26) | 15 (20) | 11 (65) | 1 (8) | <.001 |
| Margins positive, n (%) | 11 (11) | 9 (12) | 2 (12) | 0 (0) | .52 |
| Congo red (amyloid), n (%) | 35 (34) | 29 (39) | 6 (35) | 0 (0) | .01 |
| Calcitonin stain +, n (%) | 75 (72) | 54 (73) | 13 (77) | 8 (62) | .69 |
| CEA stain +, n (%) | 41 (39) | 31 (42) | 5 (29) | 5 (39) | .66 |
| Chromogranin A stain +, n (%) | 45 (43) | 30 (41) | 10 (59) | 5 (35) | .38 |
| Postop serum calcitonin, median (IQR) | 5 (2–145) | 5 (2–158) | 5 (2–716) | 2 (2–5) | .09 |
| Postop serum CEA, median (IQR) | 3 (1–17) | 3 (1–11) | 8.9 (1–45) | 2 (2–2) | .88 |
*
On the 46 patients with medullary thyroid cancer diagnosed on FNA.
CEA, Carcinoembryonic antigen; FNA, fine-needle aspiration; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation.