Long-Term Oncologic Outcomes After Curative Resection of Familial Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

Does the extent of neck surgery based on preoperative calcitonin level influence survival in medullary thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective tertiary centre experience

INTRODUCTION

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare thyroid cancer arising from the calcitonin-secreting parafollicular cells. Previous studies suggested a preoperative calcitonin level >200ng/l is an indication for prophylactic lateral neck dissection (LND) to remove micrometastases and improve survival outcomes.

METHODS

This retrospective single-centre study assessed the efficacy of preoperative calcitonin levels as a marker for determining need for prophylactic LND in MTC. Data were obtained on demographics, preoperative calcitonin levels, size and laterality of index tumour, type of neck dissection (central neck dissection (CND), LND), nodes removed, levels with involved nodes, number of nodes histologically involved, mortality, adjuvant therapy and locoregional recurrence.

RESULTS

A total of 33 patients were identified from St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between 1 January 2001 and 19 August 2021; 8 were excluded for data quality issues. Of the 18 classified with a high preoperative calcitonin level (>200ng/l), 10 (56%) had a LND and 8 (44%) had a CND. In the low-calcitonin group, three (43%) patients had a CND only and four (57%) had a LND. There was no difference in absolute or disease-free survival between the low and high groups (p=0.960, p=0.817), or between those who had a CND and LND in the high-calcitonin group (p=0.607, hazard ratio (HR) 0.55; p=0.129, HR 8.78).

CONCLUSION

There was no statistically significant difference in outcomes between high and low calcitonin groups. A selective approach to performing LND in MTC patients based on clinical and imaging findings suggesting disease presence in the lateral neck should be explored further.

Skip Metastasis in a Pediatric Patient with Medullary Thyroid Cancer: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature

Skip metastasis in thyroid cancer occurs when there is lateral neck lymph node involvement of tumor without central neck lymph node involvement. Here, cancer spreads to the lateral neck while "skipping" more proximal central neck nodes. While this unusual pattern of spread has been previously described in adults with thyroid cancer, to our knowledge it has never been described in children. Here, we report a case of an adolescent female with medullary thyroid cancer with isolated lateral neck metastatic disease. In summary, a 15-year-old female with no medical conditions presented with an asymptomatic neck mass. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck showed a heterogenous nodule in the right thyroid lobe with both cystic and solid components which were also illustrated on ultrasound. There was no CT evidence of metastatic disease, but a thyroid and cervical neck ultrasound showed a <1 cm calcified nodule in right neck level II concerning for metastasis. Fine needle aspiration highlighted medullary thyroid cancer. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy with both central and right lateral neck dissection. Central neck dissection revealed no metastatic lymph nodes, while metastatic nodes were found with right lateral neck dissection, highlighting skip metastasis. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and was well at 1-month follow-up with a strong voice and no dysphagia.

The Long-Term Cure of Patients With Hereditary Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: 40 Years of Follow-Up in a Single Center

BACKGROUND

The cure rate of patients with hereditary medullary thyroid carcionoma (MTC) can be decisively improved by screening for elevated calcitonin (Ctn) levels and RET gene mutations in patients from families affected by multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2), followed by prophylactic thyroidectomy in persons with mutated RET genes. In this long-term observational study, we investigated whether postoperative cures are indeed maintained decades after the procedure.

METHODS

From 1979 to 2021, 277 patients with MEN2 who underwent thyroidectomy were observed postoperatively for 14.4 ± 10.3 years (mean, standard deviation). They were classified as either cured or not cured depending on the last measured serum Ctn level (cured, Ctn < 10 pg/mL or < 2 pg/mL; not cured, Ctn ≥ 10 pg/mL). Depending on their RET mutation status, they were categorized as moderate, high, or highest risk (121, 130, and 26 patients, respec - tively).

RESULTS

154 patients (55.6%) obtained a long-term cure (Ctn <10 pg/mL). The median age at surgery was 27, 14, and 4 years in patients at moderate, high, and highest risk. All 52 patients who had undergone prophylactic thyroidectomy before the age of 6 years, 9 years, or 6 months had a Ctn level below 2 pg/mL and were cured at the end of the follow-up period. In a multivariable analysis, prognostic factors for a long-term cure were a lower tumor stage and, by tendency, classification as belonging to the moderate as opposed to the highest-risk group.

CONCLUSION

In patients receiving an early diagnosis of MEN2 via family screening, prophylactic thyroidectomy taking into account the RET mutation risk group can achieve a long-term cure of MTC with undetectable serum Ctn levels.

Clues for Early Diagnosis of MEN2B Syndrome Before Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

Early onset medullary thyroid carcinoma, later pheochromocytomas, and nonspecific extra-endocrine features (hypermobility and persistent constipation) are part of the clinical phenotype of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 2B (MEN2B). A de novo pathogenic M918T variant in the rearranged during transfection proto-oncogene is usually identified. Affected children are often seen by multiple clinicians over a long period before consideration of a diagnosis of MEN2B, with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma often the precipitator. We describe the clinical presentation and course of 5 children ultimately diagnosed with MEN2B in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia between 1989 and 2021. All cases had intestinal ganglioneuromatosis that could have prompted an earlier diagnosis. Population wide newborn genomic screening for rare diseases is on the horizon. We propose that MEN2B genomic screening should be included in newborn screening programs and that careful exclusion of intestinal ganglioneuromatosis would allow earlier identification leading to improved clinical outcomes.

Medullary thyroid cancer with RET V804M mutation: more indolent than expected?

BACKGROUND

Significant genotype-phenotype variability among multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A patients with a RET V804M mutation has been reported.

METHODS

Patients with a RET V804M mutation treated at a single center were identified (January 1996-December 2020). The baseline characteristics, operative details, pathology, biochemical, and long-term data were analyzed.

RESULTS

There were 79 patients; none developed pheochromocytoma or hyperparathyroidism or died in the study period. The mean age was 41.5 years (range = 1.0-81.0 years); 46.8% were men. Of 68 surgical patients, 53 (77.9%) underwent total thyroidectomy and 15 (22.1%) underwent total thyroidectomy with central neck dissection with or without lateral neck dissection. Twenty-four patients had elevated preoperative calcitonin, of whom 12 underwent total thyroidectomy (median = 7.5; range = 5.0-237.0 pg/mL), 10 underwent total thyroidectomy + central neck dissection (median = 27.6; range = 5.1-147.0 pg/mL), and 2 underwent total thyroidectomy + central neck dissection + lateral neck dissection (median = 3182.0; range = 361.0-6003.0 pg/mL). Pathology was benign (27.9%), papillary thyroid cancer alone (1.5%), C-cell hyperplasia (23.5%), and medullary thyroid cancer (47.1%; median tumor size = 3.0 mm). Three patients had elevated calcitonin postoperatively (median follow-up time = 60.0 months). In adjusted modeling, a preoperative calcitonin >5 pg/mL was associated with having medullary thyroid cancer on final pathology (odds ratio = 13.3; 95% confidence interval, 3.2-56.3; P < .001).

CONCLUSION

In this large United States cohort of surgical patients with a RET V804M mutation, most had indolent disease and were without classic multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A features. Calcitonin >5 pg/mL may serve as a meaningful value to guide surveillance and timing of surgery.

Abandoning node dissection for desmoplasia-negative encapsulated unifocal sporadic medullary thyroid cancer

BACKGROUND

Predictive criteria to determine the absence of node metastases from thyroid specimens are scarce for sporadic medullary thyroid cancer.

METHODS

Histopathologic stratification of patients with unifocal sporadic medullary thyroid cancer ≤25 mm with ≥10 neck nodes at thyroidectomy to evaluate the suitability of desmoplasia (7 increments) and tumor capsule integrity (5 decrements) for intraoperative prediction of node metastasis in unifocal sporadic medullary thyroid cancer.

RESULTS

Paraffin-embedded thyroid specimens were available for 139 eligible patients. Significant (P < .001) associations were found between increasing desmoplasia and decreasing tumor capsule integrity and nodal disease (from 0 to 79% and 0 to 62%); the number of node metastases (medians, from 0 to 3 and 0 to 2 nodes); and biochemical cure (from 100 to 36% and 100 to 58%). Desmoplasia (low-moderate to high, with fibrosis >10%) and breach of the tumor capsule (>3 extensions; 1 extension >3 mm in width; or diffuse growth without tumor capsule) yielded excellent sensitivity and negative predictive value (100%), with moderate specificity (57 and 48%) and positive predictive value (50 and 46%). In retrospect, node dissection proved unnecessary in 55 (57%) and 47 (48%) patients who harbored desmoplasia-negative and encapsulated tumors. When available frozen sections were histopathologically compared with matching paraffin-embedded thyroid tumor specimens, concordance was 98% (53 of 54 pairs): 1 of 7 upgrades changed the diagnosis to desmoplasia, whereas 1 of 3 downgrades shifted the diagnosis of tumor capsule breach from "present" to "absent."

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with desmoplasia-negative encapsulated sporadic medullary thyroid cancer may forgo node dissection at specialist centers.

Prophylactic Lateral Neck Dissection for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma is not Associated with Improved Survival

BACKGROUND

Patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) often receive lateral lymph node dissection with total thyroidectomy when calcitonin levels are elevated, even in the absence of structural disease, but the effect of this intervention on disease-specific outcomes is not known.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed patients from 1986 to 2017 who underwent thyroidectomy with curative intent for MTC at our institution. The association of disease-specific survival and clinicopathologic features was examined using univariate and multivariate Cox regression.

RESULTS

We identified 316 patients who underwent curative resection for MTC. Overall and disease-specific survival were 76% and 86%, respectively, at 10 years. To investigate the effect of prophylactic ipsilateral lateral lymph node dissection, we analyzed 89 patients without known structural disease in the neck lymph nodes at the time of resection and preoperative calcitonin > 200 pg/ml, of whom 45 had an ipsilateral lateral lymph node dissection (LND) and 44 did not. There were no differences in tumor size or preoperative calcitonin levels. There was no difference at 10 years in cumulative incidence of recurrence in the neck (20.9% LND vs. 30.4% no LND, p = 0.46), cumulative incidence of distant recurrence (18.3% vs. 18.4%, p = 0.97), disease-specific survival (86% vs. 93%, p = 0.53), or overall survival (82% vs. 90%, p = 0.6).

CONCLUSION

Lateral neck dissection in the absence of clinical or radiologic abnormal lymph nodes is not associated with improved survival in patients with MTC.

Hereditary Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Genotype, Phenotype and Outcomes in a North Indian Cohort

BACKGROUND

Aggressiveness of hereditary medullary thyroid carcinoma (hMTC) has been conventionally described to correlate with American Thyroid Association (ATA) risk groups based on RET mutations. Recent evidence increasingly contradicts this notion. We studied the RET genotype and its correlation with disease phenotype and survival outcomes in a cohort of hMTC patients.

METHODS

In a retrospective cohort of 55 hMTC patients from 23 families treated at a north Indian tertiary care institute over 15-years, RET genotype was correlated with disease phenotype (clinical, biochemical, and pathological attributes) and outcomes in terms of biochemical cure (normalization of serum calcitonin), structural cure, overall survival (OS) and disease specific survival (DSS).

RESULTS

Forty-nine patients had Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN)-type 2A syndrome, 02 had MEN-2B, and 4 had familial MTC. Two patients belonged to highest ATA risk, 41 to high-risk, and 12 to moderate risk categories. Age of the patients or stage of disease at presentation did not differ significantly between the ATA risk groups. Though the baseline serum calcitonin was significantly higher in highest risk category, the biochemical cure rates were not significantly different. At a median follow up of 48 months (Inter-quartile range 18-84, range 12-192) structural cure rates in ATA moderate and high risk groups were significantly higher than highest risk group (p = 0.04). No significant difference in OS between the three ATA groups of hMTC among the patients who underwent surgical treatment was observed (p = 0.098).

CONCLUSIONS

The ATA moderate and high risk groups have better structural cure rates compared to ATA highest risk group. The biochemical cure and overall survival rates did not significantly differ between ATA risk-groups, and were impacted by the disease stage at presentation. The current ATA risk-groups do not reliably predict the outcomes in terms of biochemical cure and survival in hMTC patients.

Molecular testing and thyroid nodule management in North America

The incidence of thyroid cancer is rising for a variety of reasons. At the same time, the nomenclature revision of non-invasive encapsulated follicular-variant PTC to noninvasive follicular neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP) has modified the incidence of thyroid cancer. Given that thyroid neoplasia is a molecular event, it is important for the thyroid physician to evaluate each patient systematically. Most thyroid cancers are sporadic; however, some are familial and may be associated with syndromes with genetic implications. Advances in radiologic imaging have made ultrasonography a near equivalent of gross examination. The American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System (ACR TI-RADS) classifies nodules from TR1 to TR5 and is valuable in determining which patients should be guided toward fine-needle aspiration (FNA) sampling. While FNA procedures and processing may be varied, the key elements are cytologic diagnosis and collection of samples for potential molecular testing. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (BSRTC) is commonly used and categorizes each FNA specimen into one of six diagnoses. The indeterminate diagnoses with risk of malignancy (ROM) ranging from 10-75% comprise approximately 30% of thyroid FNA cases and for these, molecular testing is beneficial. In North America, the two most common molecular platforms are Veracyte Afirma GSC and ThyroSeq v3. Both panels cover an extensive array of genomic alterations associated with thyroid neoplasia and a negative result from either test effectively refines the ROM of an Atypia of Undetermined Significance/Follicular Lesion of Undetermined Significance (AUS/FLUS) or Follicular Neoplasm/Suspicious for a Follicular Neoplasm (FN/SFN) diagnosis to 3-4%. Given that the refined ROMs are comparable to that of a Benign BSRTC diagnosis, these patients are recommended for observation of their nodules. However, differences exist in the implication of Afirma GSC-Suspicious and ThyroSeq v3-Positive molecular results with regard to the probability of cancer. For either test, the molecular test result should be integrated with other clinical parameters to determine if surgery is indicated and, if so, the extent of surgery.