Thyroid Cancer Patients With No Evidence of Disease: The Need for Repeat Neck Ultrasound

Ultrasonography (US) is considered the most sensitive tool for imaging persistent or recurrent papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in the neck.

To clarify the usefulness of routine neck US in low- and intermediate-risk patients with PTC with no evidence of disease 1 year after thyroidectomy.

Retrospective analysis of prospectively recorded data.

Academic center.

Two hundred twenty-six patients with PTC with sonographically normal neck lymph nodes and unstimulated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels that were either undetectable (<0.20 ng/mL) or low (0.21 to 0.99 ng/mL) at the 1-year evaluation.

Yearly assessment: unstimulated serum Tg level, anti-Tg-antibody (TgAb) titer, TSH levels, and ultrasound examination of neck lymph nodes.

Rates of ultrasonographic lymph node abnormalities at the 3-year and last follow-up visits.

In patients with an undetectable Tg level at the 1-year evaluation, sonographically suspicious neck lymph nodes were found in 1.2% of patients at 3 years and in 1.8% at the last visit [negative predictive values (NPVs) of 1-year Tg < 0.2 ng/mL: 98.8% (95% CI 95.8% to 99.9%) and 98.2% (95% to 99.6%), respectively]. Similar NPVs emerged for low detectable 1-year Tg levels [98.2% (90.3% to 99.9%) and 94.5% (84.9% to 98.9%) at the 3-year and last visits, respectively]. Seventy-five percent of the nodal lesions were likely false positive; none required treatment.

Low- and intermediate-risk patients with PTC with negative ultrasound findings and unstimulated Tg levels <1 ng/mL at the 1-year evaluation can be safely followed with clinical assessments and unstimulated serum Tg determinations. Neck US might be repeated if TgAb titers rise, or unstimulated Tg levels exceed 1 ng/mL.