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Original Studies |
Division of Endocrinology (K.-C.L., F.S.G., P.P.B.Y.), Department of Medicine, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143; Endocrine Unit (K.-C.L.), Department of Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Republic of Singapore; Biostatistics Consultancy Unit (F.D.), National University Medical Institute, Republic of Singapore; and Department of Pathology (T.R.M.), University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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The aim of our study is to determine a definite statistical relation between these two entities, from a retrospective review of our series of 735 patients with differentiated nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma treated at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) from 19701995. We have previously reported on the utility of pathological tumor-node-metastasis staging classification in predicting disease-free survival and cancer-specific survival in this series of patients (10). In this study, we compare the characteristics of patients with and without histological evidence of LT, and we examine the influence of LT on survival outcome.
| Subjects and Methods |
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Among 735 patients treated for papillary or follicular thyroid cancer (including the Hürthle cell variant) at the UCSF Medical Center during the period 19701995, 631 patients (male:female = 1:2.4) with sufficient nonneoplastic thyroid tissue for histopathological examination were included in this study. One hundred twenty-eight subjects (20%) showed evidence of lymphocytic infiltration of the neoplastic or nonneoplastic thyroid tissue, whereas this was absent in the remaining 503 patients (80%) that we evaluated. A majority of the patients received treatment of thyroid carcinoma according to accepted protocol involving total or near-total thyroidectomy, adjuvant radioactive 131iodine ablation of residual thyroid tissue, and postoperative L-thyroxine suppressive therapy as appropriate to their disease status, as reported previously (10).
Histological classification
All specimens obtained at surgery or outside histology slides were reviewed by a senior pathologist (T. R. Miller) or an associate. The histological classification for thyroid carcinoma was made according to the World Health Organization criteria (11). The diagnosis of LT was taken from a review of the pathology reports on each patient. The degree of lymphocytic infiltration varied from islands of lymphocytic infiltration in or around the papillary carcinomas, or in thyroid tissue surrounding follicular carcinomas, to heavy infiltration of lymphocytes (including germinal centers) in the papillary carcinomas or in surrounding thyroid tissue. Patients with classical Hashimotos thyroiditis, characterized by the presence of Hürthle cells and varying degree of acini atrophy in addition to the above findings, were included in the cohort with LT (12). Unfortunately, serum thyroglobulin antibody or thyroperoxidase antibody titers were not available in most of these patients.
Observed end-point
Prognostic outcome was obtained from follow-up examinations and the UCSF Cancer Registry. Follow-up duration was calculated from the time of last evaluation or the time of death. The study end-point was either cancer recurrence or death from thyroid cancer. Tumor recurrence was defined as new evidence of locoregional disease or distant metastases occurring more than 6 months after successful primary treatment. Hence, this was evaluated only in patients who had undergone a potentially curative operation, followed by successful 131iodine ablative therapy in those with residual tumor.
Data analysis
Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Risk factor analyses were performed on various prognostic factors, including LT. Time-dependent variables were analyzed by the Coxs proportional-hazard model and the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimates of survival curves (13, 14). The log-rank test was used for comparison of survival curves. Observed differences are assumed statistically significant if the probability of chance occurrence is P < 0.05.
| Results |
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Table 1
compares patient and tumor
characteristics between the cohorts with the presence and absence of
LT, respectively, at the initial surgical treatment. Histological
evidence of LT was found in 128 (20%) of the 631 patients
evaluated. The mean or median age at diagnosis did not differ between
the cohorts; our series showed that LT could be identified in thyroid
or thyroid carcinoma tissue from patients from all ages, with the
highest prevalence noted in the third to fifth decades of life.
However, a greater female preponderance was noted in the cohort with
LT. Whereas the majority (89%) of patients in our overall series had
PTC, this constituted an overwhelming 98% of the cohort with LT. At
diagnosis, patients with LT tend to have more limited disease, with a
significantly lower frequency of extrathyroidal invasion (7.8%
vs. 23.3%), nodal metastases (25.8% vs.
43.3%), and distant metastases (0% vs. 4.8%), compared
with those without LT. Correspondingly, the cohort with LT had a higher
proportion of patients with stage 1 disease and lower proportion of
subjects in stage 2 or higher pTNM classification, compared with those
without LT.
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Treatment outcome and follow-up data are summarized in Table 2
. Initial cure, post primary treatment
of thyroid cancer, was achieved in 100% of the cohort with LT and 92%
of those without LT. After a mean follow-up interval of 11.0 yr in both
cohorts, thyroid cancer recurrence was recorded in 6.3% of patients
with LT, compared with 24% of patients without LT (P
< 0.0001). Similarly, deaths from thyroid cancer occurred in only
<1% of the cohort with LT, compared with 8% in those without LT
(P = 0.001).
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Table 3
presents the Cox
proportional-hazards model for cancer recurrence and cancer mortality,
respectively, showing the risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval
(CI) for the prognostic variables studied. Variables used in TNM
staging (age cut-off at 45 yr, tumor size, extent of primary tumor, and
presence of nodal or distant metastases) uniformly depicted a
significant association with both cancer recurrence and cancer
mortality. Besides the variables assessed in TNM staging, gender, tumor
focality and LT were found to be additional factors influencing the
risk of cancer recurrence; whereas gender, tumor type, and LT were
significantly associated with thyroid cancer mortality.
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| Discussion |
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Conversely, nonspecific cellular lymphocytic infiltration is commonly recognized adjacent to a thyroid neoplasm (3, 7, 8, 15, 20). One may therefore postulate that thyroiditis associated with thyroid carcinoma, in most cases, is secondary to the neoplasm, representing the reaction induced by an antigen from the neoplasm itself. Our observation that patients with LT have a lower TNM score at diagnosis is consistent with the hypothesis that lymphocytic response limits tumor growth and metastases. It is postulated that the infiltrated lymphocytes from patients with PTC are likely to be cytotoxic T cells, with natural killer or lymphokine-associated killer activity acting as carcinoma cell killers (21). These antitumor lymphocytes may also secrete cytokines, such as interleukin-1, that inhibit thyroid carcinoma growth (22).
Over a mean follow-up period of 11 yr, we reported a significantly better cancer recurrence and cancer mortality rates in the cohort with LT, compared with those without LT. Our risk factor analyses showed that variables used in TNM staging (age at time of initial assessment, tumor size, presence of extrathyroidal invasion, and initial nodal or distant metastases) are all important prognostic factors for recurrence or death from thyroid cancer. In the univariate model, the presence of LT is similarly associated with a significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence (RR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.10.5) and cancer deaths (RR = 0.1; 95% CI = 0.00.8). Using the multivariate model with inclusion of pTNM staging, the relative risk for cancer recurrence still remains significantly lower in patients with LT (RR = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.20.9). This suggests that, besides predicting more limited disease at diagnosis, the presence of LT also predicts favorable long-term outcome. This is represented by the Kaplan-Meier survival plots, showing a significantly better disease-free survival and cancer-specific survival in the cohort with presence of LT.
Despite some controversy, there is an emerging literature on the prognostic value of LT in patients with PTC (6, 7, 8). In a review of 1533 patients with a long postoperative duration of follow-up, Kashima et al. (7) reported a 5% cancer-specific mortality and a 85% relapse-free 10-yr survival rate in patients without LT, compared with 0.7% mortality and 95% relapse-free 10-yr survival rate, respectively, in those with LT (a finding very similar to ours). In a longitudinal follow-up of 95 patients with PTC for 10 yr, Matsubayashi et al. (8) found a significantly reduced incidence of tumor recurrence in the group with histologic evidence of lymphocytic infiltration (2.8%), compared with the group without (18.6%). In another study, Ott et al. (16) reported no evidence of recurrence or deaths over a 4.7-yr follow-up period in 47 patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma, from a specific subpopulation with Hashimotos thyroiditis and solitary cold nodule.
The improved prognosis associated with the presence of LT has also been reported in patients with more aggressive thyroid tumor types. In a review of seven cases of thyroid carcinoma, in patients with concomitant Hashimotos thyroiditis that were identified from a large cohort of 590 patients, Segal et al. (5) reported the absence of tumor invasion beyond the thyroid gland capsule, cervical or distant metastases in all 7 patients. The limited disease noted in the group with Hashimotos thyroiditis was evident despite most patients having a more aggressive tumor type [four with follicular thyroid carcinomas (one of which was associated with anaplastic area) and one medullary thyroid carcinoma]. Interestingly, all seven patients were alive and disease free after 717 yr of follow-up, as contrasted with the 9% mortality in their total series of thyroid cancers, even in patients with low-grade malignancy.
In conclusion, our finding suggests a more favorable course of PTC in patients with associated histopathologic evidence of lymphocytic infiltration around the neoplastic gland. The presence of LT may be considered as a form of immune reaction to control tumor growth and proliferation.
| Footnotes |
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Received July 22, 1998.
Revised September 18, 1998.
Accepted October 23, 1998.
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