The Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibody Trajectory and Risk of Structural Recurrence in Patients With Papillary Thyroid...

To explore the relationship between anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) trajectories and recurrence risk in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients.

This multiple-center, retrospective cohort included 4161 patients who had no evidence of structural disease and a stimulated thyroglobulin (s-Tg) of ≤ 10 ng/mL at the initial radioiodine (RAI) treatment. Among 3660 patients who had repeated TgAb measurements (before RAI treatment, 1, 6, or 12 months after treatment) and available response assessments, latent class models were used to identify TgAb trajectories. Associations of trajectories with the risk of recurrence were estimated.

Four distinct TgAb trajectories were identified. Compared with patients belonging to the consistently negative trajectory, patients with the other three trajectories had higher risks of recurrence (medium-level descent: odds ratio = 3.46 [95% CI = 1.56-6.90], high-level descent: 8.04 [1.26-28.78], persistently increasing: 12.11 [5.73-23.75]).

TgAb trajectories within 1 year after RAI treatment are associated with the risk of recurrence in PTC patients with a s-Tg ≤ 10 ng/mL.

Registered at www.chictr.org.cn (identifier: ChiCTR2300075574).