Conformal thyroidectomy is a feasible option in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a retrospective cohort study with 10-year follow-up results.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been an increasing prevalence of patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) without lymph node involvement in medical centers worldwide. For patients who are unable to undergo active surveillance (AS) and are afraid of postoperative complications, conformal thyroidectomy may be a suitable option to ensure both preservation of function and complete removal of the tumor. METHODS: The patients in the cohort during 2010 to 2015 were retrospectively enrolled strictly following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The observation and control groups were defined based on the surgical approach, with patients in the observation group undergoing conformal thyroidectomy and patients in the control group undergoing lobectomy. Event-free survival (EFS), the interval from initial surgery to the detection of recurrent or metastatic disease, was defined as the primary observation endpoint. RESULTS: A total of 319 patients were included in the study, with 124 patients undergoing conformal thyroidectomy and 195 patients undergoing lobectomy. When compared to lobectomy, conformal thyroidectomy demonstrated reduced hospital stays, shorter operative times, and lower rates of vocal cord paralysis and hypoparathyroidism. Furthermore, the mean bleeding volume during the operation and the rate of permanent hypothyroidism were also lower in the conformal thyroidectomy group than in the lobectomy group. However, there was no statistically significant difference observed in the 5- and 10-year EFS between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Conformal thyroidectomy had advantages in perioperative management and short-term complication rates, with an EFS that was not inferior to that of lobectomy. Thus, conformal thyroidectomy is a feasible option for low-risk PTMC patients.

Solid Pseudopapillary Tumor of the Pancreas: Is Enucleation Safe?

BACKGROUND: While solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas are oncologically low-risk tumors, their resection with pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or partial pancreatectomy (PP) carries a significant risk for morbidity. To balance the favorable prognosis with the surgical morbidity of pancreas resection, this study explores the oncologic safety of enucleation (EN). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for resected SPT from January 2004 through December 2020. Perioperative outcomes and survival were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Kaplan-Meier analysis (with log-rank test). Survival analysis was performed to compare patients with and without lymph node (LN) metastases and binary logistic regression for predictors of LN metastasis. RESULTS: A total of 922 patients met inclusion criteria; 18 patients (2%) underwent EN, 550 (59.6%) underwent PP, and 354 (38.4%) underwent PD. Mean tumor size was 57.6 mm. Length of hospital stay was significantly shorter for EN compared with PP and PD groups (3.8 versus 6.2 versus 9.4 days, p < 0.001). There was a nonsignificant improvement in unplanned readmission [0% versus 8% versus 10.7% (p = 0.163)], 30-day mortality [0% versus 0.5% versus 0% (p = 0.359)], and 90-day mortality [0% versus 0.5% versus 0% (p = 0.363)] between EN, PP, and PD groups. Survival analyses showed no difference in OS when comparing EN versus PP (p = 0.443), and EN versus PD (p = 0317). Patients with LN metastases (p < 0.001) fared worse, and lymphovascular invasion, higher T category (T3-4) and M1 status were found as predictors for LN metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: EN may be considered for select patients leading to favorable outcomes. Because survival was worse in the rare cohort of patients with LN metastases, the predictors for LN metastasis identified here may aid in stratifying patients to EN versus resection.

Genomic alterations and evolution of cell clusters in metastatic invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) has very high rates of lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis and has been reported in several organs. However, the genomic mechanisms underlying its metastasis are unclear. Here, we perform whole-genome sequencing of tumor cell clusters from primary IMPC and paired axillary lymph node metastases. Cell clusters in multiple lymph node foci arise from a single subclone of the primary tumor. We find evidence that the monoclonal metastatic ancestor in primary IMPC shares high frequency copy-number loss of PRDM16 and IGSF9 and the copy number gain of ALDH2. Immunohistochemistry analysis further shows that low expression of IGSF9 and PRDM16 and high expression of ALDH2 are associated with lymph node metastasis and poor survival of patients with IMPC. We expect these genomic and evolutionary profiles to contribute to the accurate diagnosis of IMPC.

Survival outcomes and prognostic factors of papillary serous adenocarcinoma and papillary squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The aim of this retrospective population-based study was to investigate the survival outcomes and prognostic factors of patients with the two cervical carcinomas. A cohort of patients diagnosed with papillary serous adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix (PSAC) and papillary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) between 1973 and 2015 were drawn from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and prognostic factors were assessed using Cox proportional hazards survival regression analysis. The 5-year and 10-year OS rates were 38.4 and 33.1% for PSAC and 64.6 and 50.8% for PSCC, respectively. The 2-year and 5-year CSS rates were 60.6 and 45.9% for PSAC and 79.6 and 69.0% for PSCC, respectively. Patients with PSCC survive longer than PSAC patients and have other well-described prognostic factors for improved survival rates, including an early cancer stage, a younger patient age and standardised surgery.Impact statementWhat is already known on this subject? Papillary serous adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix (PSAC) and papillary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC)are both very rare subtypes of cervical carcinomas.What do the results of this study add? This retrospective population-based analysis has evaluated the survival outcomes and prognostic indicators of patients with PSAC and PSCC.What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Knowing the survival outcomes and prognostic indicators of PSAC and PSCC patients, we can better follow up patients.

Comparative analysis of clinicopathologic characteristics and molecular subtypes of invasive papillary carcinoma of the breast and invasive ductal carcinoma: results from SEER database.

PURPOSE: To investigate the difference of clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis between invasive papillary carcinoma (IPC) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in breast cancer patients, and to further confirm the influence of molecular subtype on prognosis of IPC. METHODS: A total of 158,132 eligible patients from 2010 to 2015 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, of which 348 patients were IPC and 157,784 patients were IDC. We assessed the clinicopathologic characteristics, molecular subtypes and prognostic value of IPC and compared them with those of IDC. RESULTS: IPC was more frequently presented with older age at diagnosis, less proportion of married and white race, lower grade, smaller tumor size, higher rates of negative nodal status, more AJCC stage I disease and HR+/Her2- breast cancer, and was less likely to be treated with mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy than IDC (p<0.05). IPC had a better 5-year breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) rates than IDC. After adjusting confounding and matching the confounding factors, IPC patients were still associated with better BCSS. Regarding patients with specific subtypes, patients with IPC had more HR+/Her2- subtypes. In addition, HR+/Her2--IPC patients had a better BCSS than HR+/Her2--IDC patients, but OS was similar between the two groups. However, BCSS and OS did not differ in the two groups after matching the confounding factors. Subgroup analysis indicated that molecular subtype may be the main confounding factor in IPC prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: IPC showed more favorable behavior than IDC, but prognosis was not as favorable as people once thought. The determination of the appropriate therapeutic regimen for IPC still needs to be made according to risk factors such as histological grade, pathological stage and molecular subtype.

The relationship between types of inflammatory cells located at the micro-environment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma prognostic factors.

PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between inflammatory cell types in the microenvironment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and prognostic factors. METHODS: The previous diagnoses and subtypes-variants of 163 patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma were re-evaluated according to the 2017 WHO classification. The peritumoral lymphocyte, plasma cell, neutrophil, eosinophil, and mast cell density were classified as none (0.24 mm2), mild (0-10/0.24 mm2), moderate (10-50/0.24 mm2), and severe (˃50/0.24 mm2) under 40x magnification and the relationship with prognostic factors was investigated. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant relationship between tumor capsule invasion (p=0.024) and surgical margin (p=0.049) with mast cell infiltration. A statistically significant relationship was observed between tumor capsule invasion (p=0.0001) and the postoperative disease-free period (p=0.0001) with neutrophil cell infiltration. The postoperative disease-free period of those with neutrophil infiltration was statistically significantly shorter than that of those with no infiltration. The tumor diameter of those with no plasma cells was statistically significantly smaller than that of patients with plasma cells (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Closer follow-up of patients with neutrophils, mast cells, and plasma cells, which have been found to be associated with poor prognostic factors in terms of recurrence, lymph node involvement, and distant metastasis, may increase survival.

Margin Positivity and Survival in Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: A National Cancer Database Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The rising incidence of thyroid cancer has been attributed to increased detection of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). Although some PTMCs are thought to harbor aggressive pathologic features, the clinical significance of these features remains unclear. This study examines factors associated with survival in this patient population. STUDY DESIGN: Adults with PTMC, defined as papillary thyroid carcinoma ≤ 1.0 cm, who underwent thyroidectomy between 2004 and 2016, were identified in the National Cancer Database. Demographic and clinical variables were analyzed. The primary aim was to identify factors associated with survival. The secondary aim was to assess the association of microscopic margins on survival and to identify factors associated with margin positivity. Overall survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods and compared using log rank tests. Cox proportional hazards and binary logistic regression models identified factors associated with survival and margin positivity, respectively. RESULTS: Of 77,817 patients with PTMC, 13,507 met inclusion criteria; 2,649 (20%) of these patients presented with advanced features: extrathyroidal extension (n = 916, 7%), lymphovascular invasion (n = 398, 3%), lymph node involvement (n = 2,003, 15%), and distant metastasis (n = 39, <1%). Microscopic margin positivity was present in 906 patients and associated with increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1.58, 95% CI 1.04-2.41). Academic facilities (odds ratio [OR] 0.75, 95% CI 0.59-0.95) and operative volume (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.98) were associated with decreased margin positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Positive margin status was significantly associated with increased risk of death for PTMC. Higher operative volume and treatment at academic centers were associated with lower rates of margin positivity and may help improve survival outcomes in PTMC patients with aggressive features.

Cancer-specific survival by stage of bladder cancer and factors collected by Mallorca Cancer Registry associated to survival.

BACKGROUND: Information about survival by stage in bladder cancer is scarce, as well as about survival of non-invasive bladder cancer. The aims of this study are: 1) to find out the distribution of bladder cancer by stage; 2) to determine cancer-specific survival by stage of bladder cancer; 3) to identify factors that explain and predict the likelihood of survival and the risk of dying from these cancers. METHODS: Incident bladder cancer cases diagnosed between 2006 and 2011 were identified through the Mallorca Cancer Registry. INCLUSION CRITERIA: cases with code C67 according to the ICD-O 3rd edition with any behaviour and any histology, except lymphomas and small cell carcinomas. Cases identified exclusively through the death certificate were excluded. We collected the following data: sex; age; date and method of diagnosis; histology according to the ICD-O 3rd edition; T, N, M and stage at the time of diagnosis; and date of follow-up or death. End point of follow-up was 31 December 2015. Multiple imputation (MI) was performed to estimate cases with unknown stage. Cases with benign or indeterminate behaviour were excluded for the survival analysis. Actuarial and Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression models were used for survival analysis. RESULTS: One thousand nine hundred fourteen cases were identified. 14% were women and 65.4% were 65 years or older. 3.9% had no stage (benign or undetermined behaviour) and 11.5% had unknown stage. After MI, 37.5% were in stage Ta (non-invasive papillary carcinoma), 3.2% in stage Tis (carcinoma in situ), 34.3% in stage I, 11.7% in Stage II, 4.3% in stage III, and 9.0% in stage IV. Survival was 76% at 5 years. Survival by stage: 98% at stage Ta, 90% at stage Tis, 85% at stage I, 45% at stage II, 35% at stage III, and 7% at stage IV. The Cox model showed that age, histology, and stage, but not sex, were associated with survival. CONCLUSION: Bladder cancer survival vary greatly with stage, among both non-invasive and invasive cases. The percentage of non-invasive cancers is high. Stage, age, and histology are associated to survival.

Surgery of pancreas tumors in pediatric and adolescent patients: a single institution experience in South America.

PURPOSE: Pancreas tumors are extremely rare in pediatric and adolescent patients. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment; however, the data are limited with respect to morbidity and mortality. We aimed to evaluate short- and long-term outcomes of pediatric and adolescent patients who underwent surgical resection of pancreatic tumors. METHODS: Patients [Formula: see text] 18-year-olds who underwent resection of pancreas tumor at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases INEN during 2000-2020 were included. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were diagnosed; 28 patients were female and 6 were male. The median age was 13.4-years-old. Histological diagnosis was solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) (n = 29, 85.3%), pancreatoblastoma (n = 3), neuroendocrine carcinoma (n = 1), and insulinoma (n = 1). No patient experienced postoperative mortality and 15 (44.1%) patients developed postoperative complications including pancreatic fistula as the most frequent. Under a median follow-up period of 33.8 (0.5-138) months, four (11.8%) patients died. Of the 29 patients with SPN, the 3- and-5-year OS rates were 100% and 83.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SPN was the most frequent cause of surgical treatment for pediatric and adolescent patients in the high-volume cancer center in Peru and was associated with favorable survival. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was safely performed in this patient group with acceptable morbidity and zero mortality.

Integrated Analysis Revealed the MicroRNA-Based Prognostic Predicting Signature for Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most frequently occurring tumors worldwide. Herein, we established a microRNA (miRNA) predicting signature to assess the prognosis of papillary-type RCC (PRCC) patients. miR-1293, miR-34a, miR-551b, miR-937, miR-299, and miR-3199-2 were used in building the overall survival (OS)-related signature, whereas miR-7156, miR-211, and miR-301b were used to construct the formula of recurrence-free survival (RFS) with the help of LASSO Cox regression analysis. The Kaplan-Meier and receiver operating characteristic curves indicated good discrimination and efficiency of the two signatures. Functional annotation for the downstream genes of the OS/RFS-related miRNAs exposed the potential mechanisms of PRCC. Notably, the multivariate analyses suggested that the two signatures were independent risk factors for PRCC patients and had better prognostic capacity than any other classifier. In addition, the nomogram indicated synthesis effects and showed better predictive performance than clinicopathologic features and our signatures. We validated the OS and RFS prediction formulas in clinical samples and met our expectations. Finally, we established two novel miRNA-based OS and RFS predicting signatures for PRCC, which are reliable tools for assessing the prognosis of PRCC patients.

The quality of life in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma patients undergoing lobectomy or total thyroidectomy: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) has a good prognosis and a long survival time, surgery is the common treatment including total thyroidectomy (TT) and unilateral lobectomy (LT), but recent studies showed that TT does not show an advantage over LT for PTMC in preventing cancer recurrence and reducing mortality. Given this, the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has become one of the important factors that physicians must consider when making treatment decisions. The aim of this study was to compare the HRQoL of patients between undergoing TT and LT. METHODS: From October 2019 to December 2019, 69 PTMC patients were enrolled in our study, including 34 in the LT group and 35 in the TT group, respectively. We used three questionnaires which included the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), thyroid cancer-specific quality of life (THYCA-QOL), and Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF) for each patient to evaluate their scores of HRQoL. RESULTS: According to the SF-36, the scores of the domain for the role limitation due to physical problems, emotional problems, and social function (RP, RE, and SF) as well as Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) showed a significant negative linear association between the LT group and TT group: RP (coefficient [coef]: -33.953 [confidence interval (CI) -51.187 to -16.720], p < 0.001, RE (coef: -21.633 [CI -39.500 to -3.766], p = 0.018), SF (coef: -10.169 [CI -19.586 to -0.752], p = 0.035)and PCS (coef: -10.571 [CI -17.768 to -3.373], p = 0.005), MCS (coef: -10.694 [CI -19.465 to -1.923], p = 0.018). The THYCA-QOL showed that the scores of the TT group were higher than that of the LT group in the problem of scar (coef: 16.245 [CI 1.697 to 30.794], p = 0.029 according to the multivariate analysis), suggesting a higher level of complaint in the TT group. There was no statistically significant difference in the scores of FoP-Q-SF between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with PTMC, LT offers an advantage over TT in terms of HRQoL, which supports the role of LT as an alternative strategy to TT.

Active Surveillance for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma in a Population with Restrictive Diagnostic Workup Strategies.

Background: The worldwide incidence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has increased. Efforts to reduce overtreatment follow two approaches: limiting diagnostic workup of low-risk thyroid nodules and pursuing active surveillance (AS) after diagnosis of microscopic PTC (mPTC). However, most studies on AS have been performed in countries with a relatively high proportion of overdiagnosis and thus incidental mPTC. The role of AS in a population with a restrictive diagnostic workup protocol for imaging and fine-needle aspiration remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the proportion and characteristics of patients with mPTC in the Netherlands and to describe the potential candidates for AS in a situation with restrictive diagnostic protocols since 2007. Methods: All operated patients with an mPTC in the Netherlands between 2005 and 2015 were identified from the Netherlands Cancer Registry database. Three groups were defined: (Group 1) mPTC with preoperative distant or lymph node metastases, (Group 2) mPTC in pathology report after thyroid surgery for another indication, and (Group 3) patients with a preoperative high suspicious thyroid nodule or proven mPTC (Bethesda 5 or 6). Only patients in Group 3 were considered potential candidates for AS. Results: A total of 1018 mPTC patients were identified. Group 1 consisted of 152 patients with preoperatively discovered metastases. Group 2 consisted of 667 patients, of whom 16 (2.4%) had lymph node metastases. There were 199 patients in Group 3, of whom 27 (13.6%) had lymph node metastases. After initial treatment in Group 3, 3.5% (7/199) of the patients had recurrence. Conclusions: Restrictive diagnostic workup strategies of patients with small thyroid nodules lead to limited patients eligible for AS and a higher incidence of lymph node metastases. We believe that there is limited additive value for AS in countries with restrictive diagnostic workup guidelines such as in the Netherlands. However, if an mPTC is encountered, AS can be offered on an individual basis.

Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Prognosis of Invasive Papillary Carcinoma of the Breast.

BACKGROUND: Invasive papillary carcinoma (IPC) of the breast is thought to carry a more favorable prognosis than invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). The aim of this study is to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics between IPC and IDC and their prognosis using a large nationwide data set. METHODS: Female patients diagnosed with malignant IPC and IDC between 2005 and 2014 were analyzed. Patients with incomplete survival data, stage 0/IV, unknown stage, or recurrent disease were excluded. Five-year overall survival was compared between IPC and IDC. RESULTS: Among 308,426 patients, 1147 had IPC and 307,279 had IDC. IPC presented more in older postmenopausal women, black Americans, and people who had government insurance. IPC had larger tumor size, lower-grade, and earlier-stage disease, less node-positive disease, higher hormone positivity, and lower human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 amplification. Adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy rates were lower in IPC than those in IDC. IPC had a similar 5-year overall survival as compared with IDC overall (86.8% versus 88.7%) (P = 0.06). Age, pathologic stage, and radiation treatment were shown to be independent prognostic factors of IPC. CONCLUSIONS: IPC has a similar prognosis as IDC, suggesting that these patients should follow the same treatment protocols.

Nomogram Predicting the Risk of Locoregional Recurrence After Mastectomy for Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma of the Breast.

BACKGROUND: The risk of locoregional recurrence (LRR) after mastectomy for breast invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) remains poorly defined. We aimed to construct an effective prognostic nomogram to estimate the individualized risk of LRR for providing accurate information for long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 388 patients with breast IMPC were included in the current study. Based on the Cox regression and clinical significance, a nomogram with an online prediction version was created. This model was evaluated and internally validated by concordance index and calibration plot. Receiver operating characteristic curve and decision curve analysis were used to assess the discrimination and clinical utility, and Kaplan-Meier curves estimated the probability of LRR. RESULTS: The variables (age, lymph node metastasis, hormone receptor status, lymphovascular invasion, histologic grade, and adjuvant radiotherapy) were included in the nomogram. This model was well-calibrated to predict the possibility of LRR and displayed favorable clinical utility; the concordance index was 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.81-0.91), which was higher than any single predictor. The area under the curve of the nomogram was 0.89, whereas that of the conventional staging system was 0.72. An online prognostic nomogram was built for convenient use. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the nomogram had a better risk stratification than the conventional staging system. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram could accurately predict the individualized risk of LRR after mastectomy for breast IMPC. By identifying the risk stratification, this model is expected to assist clinicians and patients in improving long-term follow-up strategies.

Comparison of survival outcomes in patients with metastatic papillary vs. clear-cell renal cell carcinoma: a propensity-score analysis.

BACKGROUND: To compare survival outcomes of metastatic patients harbouring either papillary (pRCC) or clear-cell (ccRCC) renal cell carcinoma in overall population and according to treatment modality. METHODS: Within the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database (2006-2015), we identified 6800 patients (585 papillary and 6215 clear-cell) with metastatic RCC. Propensity-score (PS) matching, Kaplan-Meier plots and multivariable Cox-regression models (CRMs) were used. RESULTS: Overall, 585 (8.6%) patients harboured pRCC. Rates of nodal metastases were higher in patients with pRCC (49.7 vs. 23.3%; p < 0.001). Median overall survival (OS) was 13 vs. 18 months for pRCC vs. ccRCC patients. After multivariable adjustments, no difference in OS was recorded. Furthermore, after propensity-score matching, virtually the same results were recorded. Median OS of pRCC vs. ccRCC was 8 vs. 4 months for no treatment (NT), 11 vs. 12 months for targeted therapy alone (TT), 17 vs. 35 months for cytoreductive nephrectomy alone (CN) and 18 vs. 25 months for combination of CN with TT. CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic pRCC patients exhibit poor survival, regardless of treatment received. Moreover, pRCC patients are more likely to present nodal metastases, compared to ccRCC patients, as demonstrated by twofold higher rates of lymph node invasion at diagnosis. These observations indicate that papillary variant represents more prognostically unfavorable tumor histology, in the context of metastatic RCC.

Development of an Autophagy Score Signature for Predicting Overall Survival in Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Autophagy is considered to be closely associated with cancer, functioning as either an anticancer or procancer mechanism depending on the cancer stage. However, the prognostic value of autophagy on papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) remains unclear. In this study, our purpose was to determine the autophagy-related mRNA signature to predict the overall survival of patients with pRCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 284 patients with pathologic confirmed pRCC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset were recruited and included. We choose patients who have smoked less than 15 years but staging 3 or 4 (including nontobacco exposure) vs. more than 15 years but staging 1 or 2. Fourteen differentially expressed mRNAs were found with fold change > 2 and P value < 0.001 through limma package after making a pair between nontobacco exposure or less than 15 years and tobacco exposure more than 15 years by matchIt package. RESULTS: Six mRNAs were identified to be significantly associated with overall survival. Then, using a risk score based on the signature of these six mRNAs, we divided the patients into low-risk and high-risk groups with significantly different OS. Further multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that the 6-mRNA signature was independent of age, TNM stage, and tumor type. In the present study, a novel 6-mRNA signature that is useful in survival prediction in pRCC patients was developed. If validated, this mRNA signature might assist in selecting high-risk subpopulation that needs more aggressive therapeutic intervention. The risk score involved in several cancer-related pathways was identified using gene set enrichment analysis. CONCLUSION: We initially generated a six autophagy-related genes' signature, which correlates with AJCC N stage, tumor type, and pathological stage and independently predicts OS.

Predicting non-small-volume central lymph node metastases (>5 or ≥2 mm) preoperatively in cN0 papillary thyroid microcarcinoma without extrathyroidal extension.

The ability to identify patients with aggressive papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) from the low-risk patients is critical to planning proper management of PTMC. Lymph node metastases showed association with recurrence and low survival rate, especially in patients with >5 or ≥2 mm metastatic lymph nodes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the preoperatively predictive factors of non-small-volume (metastatic lymph nodes >5 or ≥2 mm in size) central lymph node metastases (NSVCLNM) in PTMC patients. A total of 420 patients with clinically node-negative (cN0) PTMC without extrathyroidal extension underwent thyroidectomy plus central neck dissection (CND) between January 2013 and December 2015, were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 420 patients, 33 (7.9%) had NSVCLNM. The 5-year recurrence-free survival was significantly less in cN0 PTMC patients with NSVCLNM, when compared with patients without NSVCLNM (80.8% vs 100%, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression revealed age ≤36 years (P < .001), male sex (P = .002), ultrasonic tumor sizes of >0.65 cm (P < .001), and ultrasonic multifocality (P = .039) were independent predictive factors of NSVCLNM. A prediction equation (Y = 1.714 × age + 1.361 × sex + 1.639 × tumor size + 0.842 × multifocality -5.196) was developed, with a sensitivity (69.7%) and a specificity (84.0%), respectively, at an optimal cutoff point of -2.418. In conclusion, if the predictive value was >-2.418 according to the equation, immediate surgery including CND rather than active surveillance might be considered for cN0 PTMC patients.

Synergistic effect of clinicopathological factors on mortality risk in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer: An analysis using the SEER database.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we analyzed the effects of histology subtypes, lymph node N-stages, and the presence of extrathyroidal extensions on cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the correlations between clinicopathological factors and CSS/OS. The combined effects of these factors on CSS and OS were then analyzed to determine the relative excess risk, attributable proportion, and synergy index. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to evaluate the mortality rate. RESULTS: A total of 86033 cases were included in the analysis. Histology subtype, N-stage, and extrathyroidal extension were all found to be risk factors for CSS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.8, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.4-2.3, p < 0.001; HR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.6-2.3, p < 0.001; HR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0-1.9, p = 0.035, respectively). The risk factors for OS were histology subtype and N-stage (HR = 1.3, 95% CI; 1.2-1.5, p < 0.001; HR = 1. 4, 95% CI: 1.3-1.5, p < 0.001, respectively) but not extrathyroidal extension (HR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9-1.3, p = 0.228). Furthermore, histology subtype and N-stage, histology subtype and extrathyroidal extension, and N stage and extrathyroidal extension (relative excess risk, attributable proportion, and synergy index: 48.8, 0.9, 7.6; 50.2, 0.7, 3.9; 7.0, 0.3, 1.6; respectively) were found to have significant synergistic effects. CONCLUSION: Patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and extrathyroidal extension or lymph node metastasis are at a higher risk of mortality. Histology subtype, N-stage, and extrathyroidal extension appear to have synergistic effects on the increased risk of poor CSS in patients. This result can in the further development of treatment guidelines to improve the outcome of FTC patients.

Long-term outcomes of differentiated thyroid cancers with tracheal invasion: A 15-year experience.

BACKGROUND: Tracheal invasion is reported to occur in approximately one-third of the patients of locally advanced thyroid cancers. There is a paucity of data in literature with regard to the long-term outcomes of thyroid cancers with tracheal invasion. METHODS: A total of 37 patients from our tertiary care center underwent radical surgery for tracheal involvement for differentiated thyroid cancers between the years 2002 and 2016. The variables pertaining to the demographics, clinical presentation, imaging, operative details and histopathology reports were captured from the patient's case records and analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 37 patients, there were 21 males and 16 females. Majority of the patients (56.8%) were >55 years of age. Surgery (tracheal resection) was performed in the primary setting in 29 patients, whereas it was performed in a recurrent setting in 8 patients. As per the Shin classification, 3 patients belonged to Shin stage 1, 3 to Shin stage 2, 16 patients to Shin stage 3 and 15 patients to Shin stage 4. There was no 30 day postoperative mortality in our cohort. The median follow-up of our cohort was 175 months. The 5-, 10-, and the 15-year overall survivals of the entire cohort were 81.7%, 47.8%, and 35.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our series shows favorable long-term oncological outcomes of selected patients of thyroid cancers with tracheal resection and adds to the limited long-term data available in literature.

Sex differences in solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas: A population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas is a rare tumor. This study aims to examine the clinicopathological features and surgical treatments of SPN and compare the clinical behavior and prognosis between men and women with SPN. METHODS: We collected the population data of patients with SPN diagnosed between 2004 and 2017 from the SEER database. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS), and log-rank tests were used to evaluate the differences between subgroups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to screen out prognostic risk factors of SPN. RESULTS: A total of 378 patients with SPN were included, with 246 (65.1%) female patients. 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 98.9%, 95.7%, and 93.7%, respectively. Survival analysis revealed that regardless of stage, patients with SPN who underwent surgical interventions still had a significantly better prognosis than those without surgical interventions (P < .001). The patients with lymphatic dissection had a significantly better prognosis than those without lymphatic dissection (P < .001). Moreover, compared with female patients, male patients had significantly poorer OS and DSS (P < .001). Female SPN showed a bimodal age-frequency distribution with early-onset incidence at 28 years and late-onset peak incidence at 62 years, while male SPN presented a unimodal distribution with peak incidence at approximately age 64 years. In female patients, the tumor size in premenopausal females (<65 years old) was significantly larger than that in postmenopausal females (≥65 years old) (P < .001). Clinicopathological characteristic profiles were different not only between male SPN and premenopausal female SPN but also between premenopausal and postmenopausal female SPN. CONCLUSION: SPN presents indolent behavior and predominantly occurs in young women. Regardless of stage, surgical intervention is recommended. Moreover, our study is the first large enough study to demonstrate sex-related discrepancies in SPN. Thus, different treatment strategies should be designed for patients of different sexes at different ages and hormone therapy is a promising approach for SPN.