title: Relationship of biochemically persistent disease and thyroglobulin-doubling time to age at surgery in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: In patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), detectable serum thyroglobulin (Tg) after total thyroidectomy implies biochemically persistent disease (BPD). We reported that the thyroglobulin-doubling time (Tg-DT) was a potent prognostic indicator in patients with BPD. To identify factors that are related to BPD and Tg-DT, we performed new analyses on the data gathered in our previous study. Using the data of 426 patients with PTC in whom the Tg-DT was computed after total thyroidectomy, multivariate logistic analyses for BPD and Tg-DT were performed. Postoperatively, 142 (33%) patients had BPD. The percentages of BPD patients were significantly higher among the young (<40 years) and elderly (≥60 years) patients compared to the middle-aged patients (41%, 41%, and 27%, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that cN1b, tumor size ≥4 cm, and Ex2 were significantly associated with BPD. The percentage of patients with Tg-DT <2 years among the BPD patients increased with age: 6% in the young, 15% in the middle-aged, and 47% in the elderly patients. Multivariate analysis of the BPD patients revealed that Tg-DT was associated only with the age at surgery. The current analyses indicate that BPD is significantly correlated with the extent of disease status and that Tg-DT correlates only with patient age at surgery. Although our results clearly indicate that the biological behavior of PTC is age-related, the underlying reason for this remains to be established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Kobe 650-0011, Japan. miyauchi@kuma-h.or.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kihara
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higashiyama
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000097:blood*; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D047368:Tumor Burden; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013954:Thyroglobulin