Sarcopaenia ups vessel, organ invasion risk in papillary thyroid cancer

In patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), sarcopaenia significantly worsens the risk of local progression and tumour invasion into major organs or blood vessels, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 305 PTC patients (median age 43.0 years, 75.7 percent women) who had undergone preoperative staging ultrasonography and subsequent surgery. Sarcopaenia was identified in nine patients through bioelectrical impedance analysis. This subgroup was older, had lower body mass index, and was more likely to be male.

In addition, sarcopaenic patients saw significantly higher tumour recurrence (p=0.023), T stage (p=0.002), and overall TNM stage (p=0.007). Invasion into the blood vessels or major organs was likewise significantly more frequent in the sarcopaenia subgroup (p=0.001).

Logistic regression analysis, adjusted for potential confounders, confirmed that sarcopaenia was a significant risk factor for major organ or vessel invasion, increasing the odds of such an outcome by nearly 10 times (odds ratio [OR], 9.936, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.052–48.111; p=0.004).

Other significant correlates of T4 cancer included tumour size (OR, 1.048, 95 percent CI, 1.005–1.093; p=0.027) and tumour multiplicity (OR, 3.323, 95 percent CI, 1.048–10.534; p=0.041).

“Preoperative diagnosis of sarcopenia in PTC patients should raise clinical, radiological, and surgical suspicion for a more locally advanced disease and direct appropriate management and follow-up,” the researchers said.