Preoperative serum thyroglobulin is a risk factor of skip metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) was a significant risk factor of local recurrence and distant metastasis, and our study aimed to identify predictive factors of skip metastasis in PTC, helping surgeons to build a strategy when facing patients in N1b stage with clinical central lymph node-negative. METHODS: A total of 304 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy with central and lateral lymph node dissection and were diagnosed PTC with lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM) in the Department of General Surgery at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital were enrolled. We collected clinicopathological characteristics and analyzed their correlation with skip metastasis by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The incidence of skip metastasis in PTC was 14.8%. Univariate analysis showed that age, tumor diameter, primary tumor location, and preoperative serum thyroglobulin (Tg) were risk factors. Age (P=0.049, OR =3.418), primary tumor location (P<0.001, OR =7.279), and Tg (P=0.038, OR =9.412) were independent predictors in PTC by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Skip metastasis of PTC was significantly associated with preoperative serum Tg ≤77 ng/mL, tumor diameter ≤10 mm, age ≥55, and tumor located in the upper lobe. It is the first time to demonstrate that Tg is associated with skip metastasis of PTC.