Table 1.
Characteristics of the High- and Low-Grade Medullary Thyroid Cancer Patients Undergoing Curative Resection
| Characteristics | Low grade (n = 95) | High grade (n = 22) | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 42 (44.2%) | 15 (68.1%) | 0.09 |
| Female | 53 (55.8%) | 7 (31.8%) | |
| Age at diagnosis (years) (range) | 49 [3–80] | 55 [15–77] | 0.15 |
| Median follow-up after surgery (months) (min, max) | 70.4 (9.4, 315.9) | 48.0 (2.5, 333.8) | 0.35 |
| Bilateral disease present | |||
| Yes | 14 (14.7%) | 3 (13.6%) | 0.84 |
| No | 80 (84.2%) | 18 (81.8%) | |
| Unknown | 1 (1.1%) | 1 (4.5%) | |
| Last known status | |||
| Alive w/o disease | 67 | 2 | — |
| Alive with disease | 23 | 9 | |
| Dead with disease | 2 | 10 | |
| Dead of other causes | 3 | 1 | |
| Structural disease present preoperatively | 16 (16.8%) | 12 (54.5%) | <0.01 |
| RET status | 19 (20%) | 4 (18.2%) | 0.68 |
| Surgical and tumor characteristics | |||
| Surgery performed | |||
| Thyroid lobectomy | 1 (1.1%) | 0 (0%) | <0.05 |
| Thyroidectomy alone | 20 (21.1%) | 2 (9.1%) | |
| Single-stage thyroidectomy/nodal dissection | 59 (62.1%) | 11 (50.0%) | |
| Staged thyroidectomy + nodal dissection | 14 (14.7%) | 9 (40.9%) | |
| Median preoperative CEA (ng/mL) (min, max) | 16.8 (1.4, 980) | 26.0 (1.4, 573) | 0.53 |
| Median preoperative calcitonin (pg/mL) (min, max) | 650.0 (9, 85000) | 4325.0 (312, 44190) | 0.18 |
| LVI | |||
| Positive | 32 (33.7%) | 19 (86.4%) | <0.001 |
| Negative | 51 (53.7%) | 2 (9.1%) | |
| Unknown/nondiagnostic | 12 (12.6%) | 0 (4.5%) | |
| Size (cm) [min, max] | 2.01 [0.2, 7.2] | 4.01 [0.4, 9.5] | <0.05 |
| ETE | |||
| Positive | 18 (18.9%) | 11 (50.0%) | <0.05 |
| Negative | 74 (77.9%) | 6 (27.2%) | |
| Unknown/nondiagnostic | 3 (3.2%) | 5 (22.7%) | |
| Margins | |||
| Positive | 18 (18.9%) | 9 (40.9%) | 0.09 |
| Negative | 69 (72.6%) | 11 (50.0%) | |
| Unknown/nondiagnostic | 8 (8.4%) | 2 (9.1%) | |
| pT stage | |||
| 1 | 43 (45.2%) | 1 (4.5%) | <0.001 |
| 2 | 13 (13.7%) | 2 (9.1%) | |
| 3 | 16 (16.8%) | 7 (31.8%) | |
| 4 | 4 (4.2%) | 3 (13.6%) | |
| Unknown | 19 (20.0%) | 9 (40.9%) | |
| pN stage | |||
| Positive | 33 (34.7%) | 11 (50.0%) | <0.01 |
| Negative | 44 (46.3%) | 2 (9.1%) | |
| Unknown | 18 (18.9%) | 9 (40.9%) | |
| pM stage | |||
| Positive | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | — |
| Negative | 95 (100%) | 22 (100%) | |
| Median percentage of cells with calcitonin expression, by IHCa (min, max) | 100% (10–100%) | 100% (90–100%) | 0.4 |
| Amyloid present | 54 (56.8%) | 13 (59.1%) | 0.96 |
| Necrosis present | 0 (0%) | 21 (95.4%) | <0.001 |
| Mitosis present | 25 (26.3%) | 17 (77.3%) | <0.01 |
Bold values signify statistical significance.
a
No. of patients: low grade = 69; high grade = 13.
CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; ETE, extrathyroidal extension; IHC, immunohistochemistry; LVI, lymphovascular invasion.