The binary presence or absence of lymph node metastasis or extrathyroidal extension is not associated with survival in papillary thyroid cancers: Implications for staging systems

摘要

Background: The characteristics of diagnosed papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) have changed over time with the increasing trend of early diagnosis, and the survival impact of conventional prognostic factors such as lymph node metastasis (LNM) and extrathyroidal extension (ETE) is controversial. We investigated PTC prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and disease specific survival (DSS), focusing on LNM, ETE, and their implications for PTC staging systems.