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No survival difference after successful 131I ablation between patients with initially low-risk and high-risk differentiated thyroid cancer

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To compare disease-specific survival and recurrence-free survival (RFS) after successful 131I ablation in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) between those defined before ablation as low-risk and those defined as high-risk according to the European Thyroid Association 2006 consensus statement.

Methods

Retrospective data from three university hospitals were pooled. Of 2009 consecutive patients receiving ablation, 509 were identified as successfully ablated based on both undetectable stimulated serum thyroglobulin in the absence of antithyroglobulin antibodies and a negative diagnostic whole-body scan in a follow-up examination conducted 8.1±4.6 months after ablation. Of these 509 patients, 169 were defined as high-risk.

Results

After a mean follow-up of 81±64 months (range 4–306 months), only three patients had died of DTC, rendering assessment of disease-specific survival differences impossible. Of the 509 patients, 12 (2.4%) developed a recurrence a mean 35 months (range 12–59 months) after ablation. RFS for the duration of follow-up was 96.6% according to the Kaplan-Meier method. RFS did not differ between high-risk and low-risk patients (p=0.68). RFS differed slightly but significantly between those with papillary and those with follicular thyroid carcinoma (p=0.03) and between those aged ≤45 years those aged >45 years at diagnosis (p=0.018).

Conclusion

After (near) total thyroidectomy and successful 131I ablation, RFS does not differ between patients classified as high-risk and those classified as low-risk based on TNM stage at diagnosis. Consequently, the follow-up protocol should be determined on the basis of the result of initial treatment rather than on the initial tumour classification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Strasse 6, Würzburg, 97080, Germany

    Frederik Anton Verburg, Christian Düren & Christoph Reiners

  2. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Frederik Anton Verburg & Johannes W. van Isselt

  3. Department of Radiology, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Marcel P. M. Stokkel & Robbert B. T. Verkooijen

  4. Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Uwe Mäder

  5. Spencer-Fontayne Corporation, Jersey City, NJ, USA

    Robert J. Marlowe

  6. Department of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Johannes W. Smit

  7. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Markus Luster

Authors
  1. Frederik Anton Verburg
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  2. Marcel P. M. Stokkel
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  3. Christian Düren
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  4. Robbert B. T. Verkooijen
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  5. Uwe Mäder
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  6. Johannes W. van Isselt
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  8. Johannes W. Smit
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  9. Christoph Reiners
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  10. Markus Luster
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Correspondence to Frederik Anton Verburg.

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Verburg, F.A., Stokkel, M.P.M., Düren, C. et al. No survival difference after successful 131I ablation between patients with initially low-risk and high-risk differentiated thyroid cancer. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 37, 276–283 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-009-1315-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-009-1315-6

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