A comparative analysis of treatment efficacy in intermediate-risk thyroid cancer

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of different treatment combinations on patient survival in intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

The 2004-2017 National Cancer Database was queried for intermediate-risk papillary (PTC), follicular (FTC), or Hurthle cell (HTC) thyroid cancer patients. Four treatments were analyzed using Kaplan Meier and multivariable Cox regression: surgery, surgery with adjuvant radioiodine ablation (S + RAI), surgery with adjuvant thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression therapy (S + THST), and S + RAI + THST. Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox proportional-hazards analyses evaluated treatment-associated overall survival (OS).

Of 65,736 patients, 72.2% were female and the average age was 45.4 ± 15.4 years. The 10-year OS rates for PTC, FTC, and HTC were 93.2%, 85.2%, and 78.5%, respectively. S + RAI + THST exhibited higher OS than surgery alone and S + RAI (all p < 0.05). Compared to surgery alone, S + RAI + THST demonstrated reduced mortality in PTC (Hazard Ratio [HR]: 0.628, p < 0.001), FTC (HR: 0.490, p < 0.001), and HTC (HR: 0.520, p = 0.006). Similarly, adjuvant RAI + THST reduced mortality regardless of lymphovascular invasion (HR: 0.490, p < 0.001), N1a (HR: 0.570, p < 0.001) or N1b metastasis (HR: 0.621, p < 0.001), or positive margin status (HR: 0.572, p < 0.001).

Treatment combinations demonstrated varying efficacies in intermediate-risk DTC depending on histology and tumor characteristics, with S + RAI + THST exhibiting the greatest treatment response.