Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the association between BRAFV600E mutation and the lymph node metastasis (LNM) of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The effect of BRAFV600E mutation on stimulated thyroglobulin (s-Tg) after radioactive iodine (RAI) remnant ablation treatment was also evaluated.
Methods The clinicopathological data of 2647 PTC patients (599 males; 2048 females; age range: 8–84 (45.00±11.70) years) who underwent near total or total thyroidectomy at Henan CancerHospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, from January 2013 to December 2018 were retrospectivelycollected and analyzed. The BRAFV600E status of the primary tumor was then identified. The patients were subsequently divided into the BRAFV600E mutation group (2230 cases) and the BRAFV600E wild group (417 cases), and differences in age, gender, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis between these two groups were analyzed. A total of 86 PTC patients (males 28; females 58; age range: 13–77 (42.72±15.69) years) who had received two RAI treatments were filtered from the groups and evaluated further in terms of differences in s-Tg level. The basic data of the two groups were compared via the chi-squared, two independent samples Student's t, and Mann-Whitney U rank-sum tests. Paired t test was used to evaluate the relationship between s-Tg and BRAFV600E mutation.
Results The overall prevalence of BRAFV600E mutation in this study was 84.2% (2230/2647). The mean age and proportion of LNM were significantly higher in the mutation group than in the non-mutation group (45.29±11.51) years vs. (43.43±12.53) years, t=5.28, P=0.022; 48.39% vs. 41.97%, χ2=5.81, P=0.016. Among the 86 PTC patients who received RAI two RAI treatments, s-Tg levels were slightly higher in the mutation group (61.16±90.95) ng/mL vs. (18.56±37.77) ng/mL, Z=−2.41, P=0.003, while significantly sharp decreased of s-Tg in wild group (−1.61±37.18) ng/mL vs. (−24.00±30.00) ng/mL, t=−2.81, P=0.006 undergoing the first RAI remnant ablation. High s-Tg levels were present in the mutation group after the initial treatment.
Conclusion PTC patients with the BRAFV600E mutation are at higher risk of developing LNM in PTC and show poor improvement in biochemical indicators after initial treatment.