Table 3. Invasive properties and benign concomitant thyroid pathology of 115 PTC casesa.

	Prescreening	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3	Cycle 4
Characteristic	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	Pb	Pc
Intrathyroidal spreading
No	3 (27.3)	12 (27.9)	7 (23.3)	1 (6.3)	2 (13.3)
Yes	8 (72.7)	31 (72.1)	23 (76.7)	15 (93.8)	13 (86.7)	0.105	0.014
Extrathyroidal extension
No (T1 or T2)d	7 (63.6)	24 (55.8)	25 (83.3)	10 (62.5)	14 (93.3)
Yes (T3)d	4 (36.4)	19 (44.2)	5 (16.7)	6 (37.5)	1 (6.7)	0.025	0.351
Lymphatic/vascular invasion
No	0	16 (37.2)	15 (50.0)	7 (43.8)	13 (86.7)
Yes	11 (100.0)	27 (62.8)	15 (50.0)	9 (56.3)	2 (13.3)	<0.001	0.005
Lymph-node metastases
No (N0)d	4 (36.4)	28 (65.1)	24 (80.0)	12 (75.0)	13 (86.7)
Yes (N1a or N1b)d	7 (63.6)	15 (34.9)	6 (20.0)	4 (25.0)	2 (13.3)	0.009	0.202
Distant lung metastases
No (M0)d	10 (90.9)	40 (93.0)	29 (96.7)	16 (100.0)	15 (100.0)
Yes (M1)d	1 (9.1)	3 (7.0)	1 (3.3)	0	0	0.125	0.416
Combined invasivenesse
None	0	13 (30.2)	12 (40.0)	5 (3l.2)	12 (80.0)
At least one	11 (100.0)	30 (69.8)	18 (60.0)	11 (68.8)	3 (20.0)	<0.001	0.026
Multifocality
No	11(100.0)	36 (83.7)	25 (83.3)	16 (100.0)	13 (86.7)
Yes (Tm)d	0	7 (16.3)	5 (16.7)	0	2 (13.3)	0.906	0.601
Benign concomitant thyroid pathology
No	11 (100.0)	31 (72.1)	19 (63.3)	10 (62.5)	8 (53.3)
Yes	0	12 (27.9)	11 (36.7)	6 (37.5)	7 (46.7)	0.021	0.296

Abbreviation: PTC=papillary thyroid carcinoma.

^aDiagnosed in the Ukrainian-American cohort study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases through 2008.

^bP-value of univariate trend.

^cP-value of trend adjusted for age at surgery.

^dGrouping according to tumour-node-metastasis classification.

^eAt least one of the following: extrathyroidal extension, lymphatic/vascular invasion, lymph-node metastases, or distant lung metastases.