title: Is malignant nodule topography an additional risk factor for metastatic disease in low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. In recent decades, the incidence has been increasing, largely due to increased detection of patients with low-risk or very low-risk DTC. According to European Thyroid Association and American Thyroid Association guidelines, radioiodine (RAI) thyroid remnant ablation is not indicated in very low-risk patients, while its role is still debated in low-risk patients. Accordingly, risk stratification of DTC patients is pivotal when deciding for or against RAI ablation. Presently, risk stratification is based on pTNM staging integrated with clinical parameters. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between location of malignant thyroid nodules within the thyroid gland and the presence of loco-regional and/or distant metastases in patients with pT1a-pT1b DTCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of 246 patients (214 women, 32 men; female-to-male ratio 6.7:1) affected by unifocal DTC ≤ 2 cm, who had undergone RAI thyroid remnant ablation (activity ranged 555-4588 MBq) after levothyroxine withdrawal or after recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) stimulation. The majority of the patients (91.5%) were affected by papillary thyroid carcinoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Metastases were discovered by posttreatment whole-body scintigraphy in 29 out of 246 (11.8%) patients. In patients with metastases, malignant thyroid nodules were located in the right lobe (14/123, 11.4%), left lobe (7/95, 7.4%), and isthmus (8/27, 29.6%). The prevalence of metastases was significantly higher in patients with DTC located in the isthmus, compared to other sites (χ(2) = 9.6, p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data show for the first time that a location of a thyroid cancer in the isthmus is an additional risk factor for RAI avid metastatic disease in pT1a-pT1b DTC patients, regardless of the presence or absence of other risk factors.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biomedical Science and of Morphological and Functional Images, Nuclear Medicine Unit, University of Messina , Messina, Italy .
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campennì
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giovanella
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siracusa
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Stipo
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alibrandi
authors.forename: Mariapaola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cucinotta
authors.forename: Rosaria M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baldari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult