Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scan-positive recurrent papillary thyroid cancer and the prognosis and implications for surgical management

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with FDG-PET-positive and FDG-PET-negative recurrent papillary thyroid cancer

Characteristic	FDG-PET-positive n = 22	FDG-PET- negative n = 17	P value
Mean age years ± SD*	51 (±21)	44+/−21	0.03
Gender male:female	10:12	6:11	n.s.
Initial TNM stage			0.01
Stage 1	4	9
Stage 2	0	1
Stage 3	10	1
Stage 4	4	3
Unknown	4	3
Mean tumor size (mm) ± SD	33 ± 22	24 (±13)	n.s.
Extrathyroidal extension of the tumor at diagnosis (yes/no)	8 (38%)	7 (44%)	n.s.
Lymph node metastases at diagnosis (yes/no), n (%)	15 (71%)	11 (68%)	n.s.
Median thyroglobulin level at recurrence μg/L (range)	32.9 (0.9^#-1500)	3.1 (0.3^#-300)	0.024

*Average age of the total 141patients with recurrent PTC is 46 ± 20 years. #Six patients had normal Tg levels at the time of recurrence. The diagnosis was made on the following imaging modalities. n = 3 recurrence on PET scan. One of them had an initial T4 tumor. n = 3 Recurrence on iodine scan n = 1, unclear, but PET-positive lesion on PET scan. FDG-PET, fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography; n.s., not significant; SD, standard deviation; TNM, tumor, node, metastasis.

ISSN: 1477-7819