Abstract
Introduction
Distant metastasis (DM) is not a frequent event in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) but has an adverse impact on mortality of patients with DTC. In the current study, we aimed to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the risk factors for DM in DTCs and for each histological subtype.
Methods
Five electronic databases were searched from inception to December 2016 for relevant articles. Pooled odd ratios and 95% confidence interval were calculated using random-effect model.
Results
Thirty-four articles with 73,219 patients were included for meta-analyses. In DTCs, male gender, age ≥45 years, tumor size ≥4 cm, multifocality, vascular invasion (VI), extrathyroidal extension (ETE), lymph node metastasis (LNM), and lateral LNM were demonstrated to be associated with significant risks for DM. In addition, several clinicopathological factors such as age ≥45 years, VI, ETE, and LNM were shown to be significant risk factors for DM in both PTC and FTC subgroups.
Conclusion
Our study demonstrated the promising value of several clinicopathological factors such as male gender, older age, VI, ETE, and LNM in predicting DM in PTCs and FTCs. Our study affirms the value of the selected clinicopathological factors for tumor risk stratification and assessment of patients’ prognosis.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00268-017-4206-1/MediaObjects/268_2017_4206_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00268-017-4206-1/MediaObjects/268_2017_4206_Fig2a_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00268-017-4206-1/MediaObjects/268_2017_4206_Fig2b_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00268-017-4206-1/MediaObjects/268_2017_4206_Fig2c_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00268-017-4206-1/MediaObjects/268_2017_4206_Fig2d_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Davies L, Welch HG (2014) Current thyroid cancer trends in the United States. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 140(4):317–322
De Lellis, Lloyd R, Heitz P, Eng C (2004) World Health Organization classification of tumours. In: De Lellis, Lloyd R, Heitz P, Eng C (eds) Pathology and genetics of tumours of endocrine organs. IARC Press, Lyon
LiVolsi V, Baloch Z (2002) Predicting prognosis in thyroid carcinoma: can histology do it? Am J Surg Pathol 26(8):1064–1065
LiVolsi VA (1996) Well differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Clin Oncol 8(5):281–288
Clark JR, Lai P, Hall F, Borglund A, Eski S, Freeman JL (2005) Variables predicting distant metastases in thyroid cancer. Laryngoscope 115(4):661–667
Sugino K, Kameyama K, Ito K, Nagahama M, Kitagawa W, Shibuya H et al (2012) Outcomes and prognostic factors of 251 patients with minimally invasive follicular thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid 22(8):798–804
Machens A, Holzhausen HJ, Lautenschlager C, Thanh PN, Dralle H (2003) Enhancement of lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis of thyroid carcinoma. Cancer 98(4):712–719
Lin JD, Huang HS, Chen SC, Chao TC (1997) Factors that predict metastasis of papillary and follicular thyroid cancers in Taiwan. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 116(4):475–482
Goffredo P, Sosa JA, Roman SA (2013) Differentiated thyroid cancer presenting with distant metastases: a population analysis over two decades. World J Surg 37(7):1599–1605
Feinmesser M, Stern S, Mechlis-Frish S, Lubin E, Feinmesser R, Kristt D (1996) HLA-DR expression and lymphocytic infiltration in metastatic and non-metastatic papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Eur J Surg Oncol 22(5):494–501
Gandolfi G, Ragazzi M, Frasoldati A, Piana S, Ciarrocchi A, Sancisi V (2015) TERT promoter mutations are associated with distant metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Eur J Endocrinol Eur Fed Endocr Soc 172(4):403–413
Jeon MJ, Kim WG, Choi YM, Kwon H, Lee YM, Sung TY et al (2016) Features predictive of distant metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinomas. Thyroid 26(1):161–168
Lin JD, Chao TC, Hsueh C (2004) Follicular thyroid carcinomas with lung metastases: a 23-year retrospective study. Endocr J 51(2):219–225
Lin JD, Chao TC, Chou SC, Hsueh C (2004) Papillary thyroid carcinomas with lung metastases. Thyroid 14(12):1091–1096
Sugino K, Ito K, Nagahama M, Kitagawa W, Shibuya H, Ohkuwa K et al (2011) Prognosis and prognostic factors for distant metastases and tumor mortality in follicular thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid 21(7):751–757
Ito Y, Kihara M, Takamura Y, Kobayashi K, Miya A, Hirokawa M et al (2012) Prognosis and prognostic factors of papillary thyroid carcinoma in patients under 20 years. Endocr J 59(7):539–545
Hoie J, Stenwig AE, Kullmann G, Lindegaard M (1988) Distant metastases in papillary thyroid cancer. A review of 91 patients. Cancer 61(1):1–6
Lee YS, Lim YS, Lee JC, Wang SG, Kim IJ, Son SM et al (2011) Clinical implications of bilateral lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer: a risk factor for lung metastasis. Ann Surg Oncol 18(12):3486–3492
O’Neill CJ, Vaughan L, Learoyd DL, Sidhu SB, Delbridge LW, Sywak MS (2011) Management of follicular thyroid carcinoma should be individualised based on degree of capsular and vascular invasion. Eur J Surg Oncol 37(2):181–185
Ban EJ, Andrabi A, Grodski S, Yeung M, McLean C, Serpell J (2012) Follicular thyroid cancer: minimally invasive tumours can give rise to metastases. ANZ J Surg 82(3):136–139
Jang EK, Song DE, Sim SY, Kwon H, Choi YM, Jeon MJ et al (2014) NRAS codon 61 mutation is associated with distant metastasis in patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid 24(8):1275–1281
Mai KT, Khanna P, Yazdi HM, Perkins DG, Veinot JP, Thomas J et al (2002) Differentiated thyroid carcinomas with vascular invasion: a comparative study of follicular, Hurthle cell and papillary thyroid carcinoma. Pathology 34(3):239–244
O’Neill CJ, Vaughan L, Learoyd DL, Sidhu SB, Delbridge LW, Sywak MS (2011) Management of follicular thyroid carcinoma should be individualised based on degree of capsular and vascular invasion. Eur J Surg Oncol 37(2):181–185
Sancisi V, Nicoli D, Ragazzi M, Piana S, Ciarrocchi A (2012) BRAFV600E mutation does not mean distant metastasis in thyroid papillary carcinomas. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 97(9):E1745–E1749
Yamashita H, Noguchi S, Murakami N, Kawamoto H, Watanabe S (1997) Extracapsular invasion of lymph node metastasis is an indicator of distant metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with thyroid papillary carcinoma. Cancer 80(12):2268–2272
Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, PRISMA Group (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. PLoS Med 6(7):e1000097
The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses [Internet]. http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.htm
Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins JP, Rothstein HR (2010) A basic introduction to fixed-effect and random-effects models for meta-analysis. Res Synth Methods 1(2):97–111
Higgins JP, Thompson SG (2002) Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Stat Med 21:1539–1558
Higgins JP, Thompson SG, Deeks JJ, Altman DG (2003) Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. BMJ 327(7414):557–560
Hamilton WK, Aydin B, Mizumoto A (2016) MAVIS: meta analysis via shiny. R package version 1.1.2. Available at http://kylehamilton.net/shiny/MAVIS/
Farahati J, Bucsky P, Parlowsky T, Mader U, Reiners C (1997) Characteristics of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents with respect to age, gender, and histology. Cancer 80(11):2156–2162
Garg A, Chopra S, Ballal S, Soundararajan R, Bal CS (2015) Differentiated thyroid cancer in patients over 60 years of age at presentation: a retrospective study of 438 patients. J Geriatr Oncol 6(1):29–37
Ito Y, Masuoka H, Fukushima M, Inoue H, Kihara M, Tomoda C et al (2010) Prognosis and prognostic factors of patients with papillary carcinoma showing distant metastasis at surgery (M1 patients) in Japan. Endocr J 57(6):523–531
Jing F-j, Liang J, Z-y Liang, Meng C, Long W, X-y Li et al (2013) BRAF(v600E) mutation is not a positive predictor for distant metastasis in sporadic papillary thyroid carcinoma. Chin Med J (Engl) 126(16):3013–3018
Kremser R, Obrist P, Spizzo G, Erler H, Kendler D, Kemmler G et al (2003) Her2/neu overexpression in differentiated thyroid carcinomas predicts metastatic disease. Virchows Archiv Int J Pathol 442(4):322–328
Kurt B, Yalcin S, Alagoz E, Karslioglu Y, Yigit N, Gunal A et al (2012) The relationship of the BRAF(V600E) mutation and the established prognostic factors in papillary thyroid carcinomas. Endocr Pathol 23(3):135–140
La Quaglia MP, Black T, Holcomb GW 3rd, Sklar C, Azizkhan RG, Haase GM et al (2000) Differentiated thyroid cancer: clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcome in patients under 21 years of age who present with distant metastases. A report from the Surgical Discipline Committee of the Children’s Cancer Group. J Pediatr Surg 35(6):955–959 (discussion 60)
Lang BH, Shek TW, Wu AL, Wan KY (2017) The total number of tissue blocks per centimetre of tumor significantly correlated with the risk of distant metastasis in patients with minimally invasive follicular thyroid carcinoma. Endocrine 55(2):496–502
Lee YM, Song DE, Kim TY, Sung TY, Yoon JH, Chung KW et al (2016) Risk factors for distant metastasis in patients with minimally invasive follicular thyroid carcinoma. PLoS ONE 11(5):e0155489
Li YR, Chen ST, Hseuh C, Chao TC, Ho TY, Lin JD (2015) Risk factors of distant metastasis in the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. J Formos Med Assoc 115:665–671
Scheumman GF, Hoang-Vu C, Cetin Y, Gimm O, Behrends J, von Wasielewski R et al (1995) Clinical significance of E-cadherin as a prognostic marker in thyroid carcinomas. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 80(7):2168–2172
Spriano G, Ruscito P, Pellini R, Appetecchia M, Roselli R (2009) Pattern of regional metastases and prognostic factors in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital 29(6):312–316
Sugino K, Kure Y, Iwasaki H, Ozaki O, Mimura T, Matsumoto A et al (1995) Metastases to the regional lymph nodes, lymph node recurrence, and distant metastases in nonadvanced papillary thyroid carcinoma. Surg Today 25(4):324–328
Verkooijen RB, Rietbergen D, Smit JW, Romijn JA, Stokkel MP (2007) A new functional parameter measured at the time of ablation that can be used to predict differentiated thyroid cancer recurrence during follow-up. Eur J Endocrinol 156(1):41–47
Welch Dinauer CA, Tuttle RM, Robie DK, McClellan DR, Svec RL, Adair C et al (1998) Clinical features associated with metastasis and recurrence of differentiated thyroid cancer in children, adolescents and young adults. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 49(5):619–628
Yamashita H, Noguchi Y, Noguchi S, Yamashita H, Uchino S, Watanabe S et al (2005) Significance of an insular component in follicular thyroid carcinoma with distant metastasis at initial presentation. Endocr Pathol 16(1):41–48
Vuong HG, Altibi AM, Abdelhamid AH, Ngoc PU, Quan VD, Tantawi MY et al (2017) The changing characteristics and molecular profiles of papillary thyroid carcinoma over time: a systematic review. Oncotarget 8(6):10637–10649
Cady B, Rossi R (1988) An expanded view of risk-group definition in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Surgery 104(6):947–953
Hay ID, Bergstralh EJ, Goellner JR, Ebersold JR, Grant CS (1993) Predicting outcome in papillary thyroid carcinoma: development of a reliable prognostic scoring system in a cohort of 1779 patients surgically treated at one institution during 1940 through 1989. Surgery 114(6):1050–1057 (discussion 7–8)
Guo K, Wang Z (2014) Risk factors influencing the recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Clin Exp Pathol 7(9):5393–5403
Sun W, Lan X, Zhang H, Dong W, Wang Z, He L et al (2015) Risk factors for central lymph node metastasis in CN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 10(10):e0139021
Qu H, Sun GR, Liu Y, He QS (2015) Clinical risk factors for central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 83(1):124–132
Haugen BR, Alexander EK, Bible KC, Doherty GM, Mandel SJ, Nikiforov YE et al (2016) 2015 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for adult patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer: the American Thyroid Association guidelines task force on thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. Thyroid 26(1):1–133
Vuong HG, Kondo T, Duong UNP, Pham TQ, Oishi N, Mochizuki K et al (2017) Prognostic impact of vascular invasion in differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Endocrinol 177:207–216
Sobrinho-Simoes M, Eloy C, Magalhaes J, Lobo C, Amaro T (2011) Follicular thyroid carcinoma. Mod Pathol 24:S10–S18
Barnabei A, Ferretti E, Baldelli R, Procaccini A, Spriano G, Appetecchia M (2009) Hurthle cell tumours of the thyroid. Personal experience and review of the literature. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital 29(6):305–311
McDonald MP, Sanders LE, Silverman ML, Chan HS, Buyske J (1996) Hurthle cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland: prognostic factors and results of surgical treatment. Surgery 120(6):1000–1004 (discussion 4–5)
Shaha AR, Loree TR, Shah JP (1995) Prognostic factors and risk group analysis in follicular carcinoma of the thyroid. Surgery 118(6):1131–1136 (discussion 6–8)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vuong, H.G., Duong, U.N.P., Pham, T.Q. et al. Clinicopathological Risk Factors for Distant Metastasis in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma: A Meta-analysis. World J Surg 42, 1005–1017 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-017-4206-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-017-4206-1