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Risk factors for parapharyngeal and retropharyngeal metastases in papillary thyroid cancer: a matched case–control study

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Abstract

Purpose

To analyze risk factors for parapharyngeal (PP) and retropharyngeal (RP) metastases in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

Methods

A matched case–control study was conducted, comprising 130 age- and sex-matched cases of PTC. Among these cases, 50 had PP/RP metastases, 50 had central and/or lateral neck lymph node metastases, and 30 showed no lymph node metastases. Preoperative thyroid function test, computed tomography images, and postoperative pathological findings were collected. Associations between cases were assessed using univariate conditional logistic regression analysis, followed by multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis, and backward stepwise selection to predict risk factors for PP/RP metastases.

Results

The study found that thyroglobulin was significantly associated with the development of PP/RP metastases [136.10(16.55–312.60) vs. 27.60(10.28–55.62) vs. 8.74(6.35–21.10) P < 0.001].

Conclusions

The study concludes that thyroglobulin is a significant risk factor for PP/RP metastases in PTC. This finding emphasizes the importance of monitoring thyroglobulin levels in PTC patients to identify those at risk of developing PP/RP metastases.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. LY20H160007 to Jinbiao Shang) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82102749 to Qing Yu).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postgraduate Training Base Alliance of Wenzhou Medical University (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, China

    Daojing Liu

  2. Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, China

    Daojing Liu

  3. Department of Thyroid Surgery, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Science, No. 1 East Banshan Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, China

    Xilin Nie, Qing Yu & Jinbiao Shang

  4. Key Laboratory of Head & Neck Cancer Translational Research of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, China

    Xilin Nie, Qing Yu & Jinbiao Shang

Authors
  1. Daojing Liu
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  2. Xilin Nie
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  3. Qing Yu
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  4. Jinbiao Shang
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Contributions

DL: conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, final approval; XN: design, acquisition of data, manuscript writing, final approval; QY: manuscript writing, final approval; JS: manuscript writing, final approval.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jinbiao Shang.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethical approval

This retrospective chart review study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (No. IRB-2020-64) approved this study.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Liu, D., Nie, X., Yu, Q. et al. Risk factors for parapharyngeal and retropharyngeal metastases in papillary thyroid cancer: a matched case–control study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 1531–1539 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08404-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08404-z

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