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Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Visualization in the Treatment of Locally Advanced Thyroid Cancer
Published on: June 9, 2023
Structural alterations in tumor-draining lymph nodes before papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasis
Andrew M Hinson1, Nicole A Massoll2, Lee Ann Jolly3
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Background:
The purpose of this study was to define and characterize the thyroid tumor-draining lymph nodes in genetically engineered mice harboring thyroid-specific expression of oncogenic BrafV600E with and without Pten insufficiency.
Methods:
After intratumoral injection of methylene blue, the lymphatic drainage of the thyroid gland was visualized in real time. The thyroid gland/tumor was resected en bloc with the respiratory system for histological analysis.
Results:
Although mice harboring BrafV600E mutations were smaller in body size compared with their wild-type (WT) littermates, the size of their thyroid glands and deep cervical lymph nodes were significantly larger. Additionally, the tumor-draining lymph nodes showed increased and enlarged lymphatic sinuses that were distributed throughout the cortex and medulla. Tumor-reactive lymphadenopathy and histiocytosis, but no frank metastases, were observed in all mice harboring BrafV600E mutations.
Conclusions:
The tumor-draining lymph nodes undergo significant structural alterations in immunocompetent mice, and this may represent a primer for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) metastasis.
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