Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of the study population.
| Characteristics | Levels | FFPE Samples (n = 178) | p-Value | Frozen and Blood Samples (n = 64) | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Recurrence (n = 138) |
Recurrence (n = 40) |
Non-Recurrence (n = 56) |
Recurrence (n = 8) |
||||
| Demographic data | |||||||
| Age, years | Median (IQR) | 45 (33.7–56.2) | 51.5 (33.5–62.7) | 0.19 | 41 (34–52) | 49.5 (32.0–60.7) | 0.59 |
| <55 y | 96 (69.6) | 21 (52.5) | 0.06 | 43 (76.8) | 4 (50) | 0.19 | |
| ≥55 y | 42 (30.4) | 19 (47.5) | 13 (23.2) | 4 (50) | |||
| Sex | Female | 95 (68.8) | 25 (62.5) | 0.45 | 48 (85.7) | 6 (75) | 0.60 |
| Male | 43 (31.2) | 15 (37.5) | 8 (14.3) | 2 (25) | |||
| Ethnicity | Not Hispanic or Latino | 138 (100) | 40 (100) | NA | 41 (73.2) | 7 (87.5) | 0.66 |
| Hispanic or Latino | -- | -- | 15 (26.8) | 1 (12.5) | |||
| Race | White | 138 (100) | 40 (100) | NA | 12 (21.4) | 2 (25) | 0.66 |
| Black | -- | -- | 14 (25) | 3 (37.5) | |||
| Asian | -- | -- | 30 (53.6) | 3 (37.5) | |||
| Hashimoto disease | Positive | 42 (30.4) | 13 (32.5) | 0.84 | 15 (26.8) | 1 (12.5) | 0.67 |
| Pathological assessment | |||||||
| Focality | Unifocal | 82 (59.4) | 22 (55) | 0.71 | 35 (62.5) | 4 (50) | 0.70 |
| Multifocal | 56 (40.6) | 18 (45) | 21 (37.5) | 4 (50) | |||
| Histopathology type | Follicular | 24 (17.4) | 5 (12.5) | 0.62 | 8 (14.3) | 2 (25) | 0.60 |
| Papillary | 114 (82.6) | 35 (87.5) | 48 (85.7) | 6 (75) | |||
| Pathology stage | Stage I | 80 (58) | 14 (35) | 0.001 | 40 (71.4) | 4 (50) | 0.08 |
| Stage II | 19 (13.8) | 2 (5) | 3 (5.4) | 0 (0) | |||
| Stage III | 32 (23.2) | 16 (40) | 9 (16.1) | 1 (12.5) | |||
| Stage IV | 7 (5.1) | 8 (20) | 4 (7.1) | 3 (37.5) | |||
| T stage | T1 | 39 (28.3) | 2 (5) | <0.001 | 14 (25) | 1 (12.5) | 0.40 |
| T2 | 55 (39.9) | 12 (30) | 18 (32.1) | 1 (12.5) | |||
| T3 | 42 (30.4) | 23 (57.5) | 20 (35.7) | 5 (62.5) | |||
| T4 | 2 (1.4) | 3 (7.5) | 4 (7.1) | 1 (12.5) | |||
| N stage | N0 | 82 (59.4) | 14 (35) | 0.007 | 25 (44.6) | 4 (50) | 0.77 |
| N1 | 56 (40.6) | 26 (65) | 31 (55.4) | 4 (50) | |||
| M stage | M0 | 132 (95.7) | 35 (87.5) | 0.07 | 55 (98.2) | 6 (75) | 0.039 |
| M1 | 6 (4.3) | 5 (12.5) | 1 (1.8) | 2 (25) | |||
| Extrathyroidal extension | Negative | 100 (72.5) | 19 (47.5) | 0.004 | 32 (57.1) | 5 (62.5) | 0.77 |
| Positive | 38 (27.5) | 21 (52.5) | 24 (42.9) | 3 (37.5) | |||
| Oncologic assessment | |||||||
| BRAF mutation | Wild type | 73 (52.9) | 16 (40) | 0.15 | 20 (35.7) | 3 (37.5) | 0.92 |
| Mutant | 65 (47.1) | 24 (60) | 36 (64.3) | 5 (62.5) | |||
| TERT mutation | Wild type | 66 (47.8) | 0 (0) | <0.001 | 48 (85.7) | 7 (87.5) | 0.89 |
| Mutant | 70 (50.7) | 34 (85) | 8 (14.3) | 1 (12.5) | |||
| Intervention | |||||||
| Radioactive iodine | Positive | 1 (0.7) | 0 (0) | 0.59 | 3 (5.4) | 1 (12.5) | 0.42 |
| Radiation treatment | Positive | 31 (22.5) | 13 (32.5) | 0.21 | 18 (32.1) | 1 (12.5) | 0.25 |
| Follow-up | |||||||
| Mortality | Survived | 138 (100) | 39 (97.5) | 0.23 | 55 (98.2) | 8 (100) | 0.70 |
| Died | 0 (0) | 1 (2.5) | 1 (1.8) | 0 (0) | |||
| Overall survival, months | Median (IQR) | 37.9 (21.6–63.3) | 35.6 (24.0–63.7) | 0.88 | 31.8 (14.3–58.4) | 43.1 (32.8–50.0) | 0.22 |
| Disease-free survival, months | Median (IQR) | 37.9 (21.6–63.4) | 13.4 (7.1–25.2) | <0.001 | 31.8 (14.2–58.1) | 21.4 (7.0–43.6) | 0.33 |
Data are represented as frequency (percentage) or median and interquartile range (IQR). Two-sided chi-square and Mann–Whitney U tests were used. Bold values indicate significance at p-value < 0.05.