Surgical management of thyroid carcinoma invading the trachea

Surgical Treatment of Advanced Thyroid Cancer with Tracheal Invasion

Introduction

Tracheal invasion in thyroid cancer occurs in one-third of locally advanced cases and is the third most common site of infiltration following strap muscles and recurrent laryngeal nerves. Surgical resection plays an important role in the management strategy followed by either radioactive iodine or external beam radiotherapy. Nonetheless, there has been still controversy about the optimal extension of the surgery. Case Presentation. Total thyroidectomy, airway resection and bilateral neck dissection were performed in two cases diagnosed as advanced thyroid cancer with tracheal invasion (stage IV according to McCaffrey). The first case underwent partial tracheal resection and direct anastomosis by the V-shape technique, while the latter one required tracheal resection and permanent tracheotomy. After one-year follow-up, no evidence of tumor recurrence or any postoperative complications were found.

Conclusion

Surgical resection still remains the mainstay of management for advanced thyroid cancer in general and for tracheal invasion cases in particular. The decision of surgical resection and tracheal reconstruction methods mostly depends on the extent of tracheal invasion.

Management of invasive well-differentiated thyroid cancer: an American Head and Neck Society consensus statement. AHNS consensus statement

BACKGROUND

Invasive differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is relatively frequent, yet there is a paucity of specific guidelines devoted to its management. The Endocrine Committee of the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) convened a panel to provide clinical consensus statements based on review of the literature, synthesized with the expert opinion of the group.

METHODS

An expert panel, selected from membership of the AHNS, constructed the manuscript and recommendations for management of DTC with invasion of recurrent laryngeal nerve, trachea, esophagus, larynx, and major vessels based on current best evidence. A Modified Delphi survey was then constructed by another expert panelist utilizing 9 anchor points, 1 = strongly disagree to 9 = strongly agree. Results of the survey were utilized to determine which statements achieved consensus, near-consensus, or non-consensus.

RESULTS

After endorsement by the AHNS Endocrine Committee and Quality of Care Committee, it received final approval from the AHNS Council.

The fate of homograft tracheal transplants in sheep

OBJECTIVE

An established method of tracheal substitution is not yet available, but homograft tracheal transplantation might provide a realistic tracheal replacement. With the objective of sequentially examining the healing of tracheal homografts, we have established a suitable large-animal model.

METHODS

Five sheep received orthotopic tracheal transplantation of a 4-cm cervical tracheal homograft. The trachea was supported for 6 weeks with a self-expanding polyester stent. The plan was to euthanize the animals after 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks, or whenever complications occurred.

RESULTS

The implantation itself was performed without complications. After 2 weeks the homograft was firmly encapsulated by connective tissue, without signs of necrosis or abscess. The original mucous membrane no longer existed; the cartilage rings were exposed. In all animals that were euthanized at the later dates, the homografts were completely absorbed and replaced by inflammatory scar tissue. This, in turn, was covered with a shiny cellular surface layer.

CONCLUSIONS

The results from this animal experiment reveal-contrary to data published to date-that tracheal homografts are not incorporated but absorbed. They are replaced by scar/granulation tissue that cannot secure the stability of the trachea. Therefore, further experiments with respect to the biocompatability of homografts appear to be necessary.

Management of locally invasive well-differentiated thyroid cancer

Thyroid carcinoma invasion of the aerodigestive tract and recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) are important factors with increase in morbidity and mortality. Primary treatment is surgery; the decision about the extent of surgery is difficult, because preserving function is as essential as removal of the tumor. This article discusses the literature relating to the assessment of disease, surgical management, and adjuvant therapy for invasive thyroid cancer of the aerodigestive tract and RLN and makes suggestions based on the authors' experience.

Aerodigestive Tract Invasion by Well-Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma: Diagnosis, Management, Prognosis, and Biology

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

1) To describe the clinical entity invasive well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma (IWDTC), 2) to determine prognostic factors for survival in patients with IWDTC, 3) to describe and compare types of surgical resection to determine treatment efficacy, 4) to offer a staging system and surgical algorithm for management of patients with IWDTC, 5) to examine alterations in expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin adhesion molecules in three groups of thyroid tissue and propose a cellular mechanism for invasion of the aerodigestive tract.

STUDY DESIGN

Basic science: quantification of expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in three groups of thyroid tissue. Clinical: retrospective review of patients with IWDTC surgically treated and followed over a 45-year time period.

METHODS

Basic science: immunohistochemical staining was used with antibodies against E-cadherin and beta-catenin in three groups of tissue: group 1, normal control thyroid tissue (n = 10); group 2, conventional papillary thyroid carcinoma (n = 20); group 3, IWDTC (n = 12). Intensity scores were given on the basis of protocol. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate differences between groups. Post hoc ANOVA testing was completed. P < .05 was significant. Clinical: patients were divided into three surgical groups within the laryngotracheal subset: group 1, complete resection of gross disease (n = 34); group 2, shave excision (n = 75); group 3, incomplete excision (n = 15). Cox regression analysis was used to determine significance of prognostic factors. Kaplan-Meier plots were used to evaluate survival. P < .05 was significant.

RESULTS

Basic science: a significant difference between the three thyroid tissue groups for E-cadherin expression was demonstrated on one-way ANOVA testing. When controls were compared with either experimental group in post hoc ANOVA testing, differences between all groups were demonstrated (P < .001). For beta-catenin, the intensities of the three groups were not different by one-way ANOVA testing. Similar nonsignificant results were found on post hoc ANOVA testing. Clinical: there was a statistically significant difference in survival for patients with and without involvement of any portion of the endolarynx or trachea (P < .01). There was a significant difference among all three surgical groups when compared (P < .001). When complete and shave groups were compared with gross residual group there was a significant decrease in survival in incomplete resection group (P < .01). Cox regression analysis demonstrated invasion of larynx and trachea were significant prognostic factors for poor outcome. The type of initial resection was significant on multivariate analysis. Removal of all gross disease is a major factor for survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Basic science: there is a decrease in membrane expression of E-cadherin in IWDTC, and loss of this tumor suppressor adhesion molecule may contribute to the invasive nature of well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas. Clinical: laryngotracheal invasion is a significant independent prognostic factor for survival. Patients undergoing shave excision had similar survival when compared with those undergoing radical tumor resection if gross tumor did not remain. Gross intraluminal tumor should be resected completely. Shave excision is adequate for minimal invasion not involving the intraluminal surfaces of the aerodigestive tract.

Contemporary management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma

This article reviews the recent changes affecting the care of patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The impacts of positron emission tomographic imaging, recombinant human thyroid stimulating hormone,and current surgical management standards are discussed.

Surgical management of laryngotracheal stenosis in adults

The purpose was to evaluate the outcome following the surgical management of a consecutive series of 26 adult patients with laryngotracheal stenosis of varied etiologies in a tertiary care center. Of the 83 patients who underwent surgery for laryngotracheal stenosis in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, between 1995 and 2003, 26 patients were adults (> or = 16 years) and formed the group that was the focus of this study. The stenosis involved the trachea (20), subglottis (1), subglottis and trachea (2), glottis and subglottis (1) and glottis, subglottis and trachea (2). The etiology of the stenosis was post-intubation injury ( n = 20), infiltration of the trachea by thyroid tumor ( n = 3), seeding from a laryngeal tumor at the site of the tracheostoma ( n = 1), idiopathic progressive subglottic stenosis ( n = 1) and external laryngeal trauma ( n = 1). Of the patients, 20 underwent tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis, and 5 patients had partial cricotracheal resection and thyrotracheal anastomosis. The length of resection varied from 1.5 to 6 cm, with a median length of 3.4 cm. Eighteen patients were extubated in the operating room, and six patients were extubated during a period of 12 to 72 h after surgery. Two patients were decannulated at 12 and 18 months, respectively. One patient, who developed anastomotic dehiscence 10 days after surgery, underwent revision surgery with a good outcome. On long-term outcome assessment, 15 patients achieved excellent results, 7 patients had a good result and 4 patients died of causes unrelated to surgery (mean follow-up period of 3.6 years). No patient showed evidence of restenosis. The excellent functional results of cricotracheal/tracheal resection and primary anastomosis in this series confirm the efficacy and reliability of this approach towards the management of laryngotracheal stenosis of varied etiologies. Similar to data in the literature, post-intubation injury was the leading cause of stenosis in our series. A resection length of up to 6 cm with laryngeal release procedures (when necessary) was found to be technically feasible.

Resection and reconstruction of the airway in patients with advanced thyroid cancer

The prognosis of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer is relatively fair, with a 10-year survival rate above 80%. One of the important prognostic factors is cancer invasion to the airway. For the last 25 years we have been performing combined resection of the trachea and larynx and have reported a relatively good 10-year survival (67.7%) and improved quality of life (QOL). However, operative complications associated with the procedure, especially insufficiency of the anastomosis and bleeding from large vessels, are life-threatening. Of 40 patients who underwent resection of the trachea, insufficiency of the anastomosis occurred in 4 and subsequent massive bleeding from carotid artery due to neck infection in 2. Tracheal resection should be carried out carefully by avoiding insufficiency. We have concluded that combined resection is a good treatment choice for survival and good QOL when performed for local control in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.