A prognostic nomogram for distant metastasis in thyroid cancer patients without lymph node metastasis

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cancer Prognostics
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Thyroid cancer (TC) patients with negative lymph node (N0) status can still develop distant metastasis (DM).
• Distant metastasis significantly impacts the survival of TC patients.
• Identifying prognostic factors for DM in N0 TC patients is crucial for improving outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate prognostic factors for distant metastasis (DM) in thyroid cancer (TC) patients with negative lymph node (N0) status.
• To develop and validate a predictive nomogram model for overall survival (OS) in TC N0 patients with DM.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 18,504 TC patients (N0) from the SEER database (2004-2015).
• Univariate and multivariate analyses to identify independent prognostic factors for DM.
• Construction and validation of a nomogram to predict OS at 1, 3, and 5 years.

Main Results:

• Identified clinicopathological features associated with DM risk and prognosis in TC N0 patients.
• Successfully established and validated a nomogram for predicting OS in individual TC N0 patients with DM.

Conclusions:

• The developed nomogram effectively predicts OS in TC N0 patients with DM.
• This tool aids physicians in early identification of high-risk patients.
• Facilitates individualized survival assessments and treatment strategies for TC patients with DM (N0).