Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery

The latest “General Rules for the Description of Thyroid Cancer,” published in 2023, introduced depth-based subcategories of tumor invasion, dividing sEx2 into sEx2a, sEx2b, and sEx3. However, the “Clinical Guidelines on the Management of Thyroid Tumors,” published in 2024, continue to classify thes...

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Main Authors: Yasuhiro Ito, Masashi Yamamoto, Minoru Kihara, Naoyoshi Onoda, Akihiro Miya, Akira Miyauchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Japan Endocrine Society 2025-06-01
Series:Endocrine Journal
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Online Access:https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/72/6/72_EJ24-0610/_html/-char/en
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author Yasuhiro Ito
Masashi Yamamoto
Minoru Kihara
Naoyoshi Onoda
Akihiro Miya
Akira Miyauchi
author_facet Yasuhiro Ito
Masashi Yamamoto
Minoru Kihara
Naoyoshi Onoda
Akihiro Miya
Akira Miyauchi
author_sort Yasuhiro Ito
collection DOAJ
description The latest “General Rules for the Description of Thyroid Cancer,” published in 2023, introduced depth-based subcategories of tumor invasion, dividing sEx2 into sEx2a, sEx2b, and sEx3. However, the “Clinical Guidelines on the Management of Thyroid Tumors,” published in 2024, continue to classify these categories uniformly as high-risk for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We evaluated the appropriateness of reclassifying sEx2a-high-risk patients as intermediate-risk. A total of 9,247 patients [median age: 52 years (7–93)] who underwent locally curative surgery were enrolled, with a median follow-up of 7.8 years. Cause-specific survival (CSS), distant recurrence-free survival (DR-FS), and local recurrence-free survival (LR-FS) worsened progressively from low-risk to high-risk patients. We compared the prognoses among the patients classified as sEx2a-high-risk, sEx2b, and intermediate-risk. The CSS, DR-FS, and LR-FS outcomes of sEx2b patients were significantly poorer than those of sEx2a-high-risk and intermediate-risk patients. By reclassifying sEx2a-high-risk patients as intermediate-risk, we established a new high-risk and intermediate-risk classification. The number of high-risk patients decreased from 2,274 to 1,132, whereas the number of intermediate-risk patients increased from 2,875 to 4,017. Prognoses in these new groups showed minimal differences compared to the original high- and intermediate-risk classifications. We established novel prognostic groups: favorable (N = 6,398, low-risk and intermediate-risk <55 years), intermediate (N = 2,324, intermediate-risk ≥55 years and high-risk <55 years), and poor (N = 525, high-risk ≥55 years). Prognoses significantly worsened across these groups from favorable to poor (p < 0.001). The reclassification of PTC based on tumor extension and the proposed novel prognostic groups provide a more accurate evaluation of PTC outcomes.
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spelling doaj-art-35141af56682442ab5ea86dffbe985fe2025-08-20T02:03:12ZengThe Japan Endocrine SocietyEndocrine Journal1348-45402025-06-0172670771710.1507/endocrj.EJ24-0610endocrjEstablishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine SurgeryYasuhiro Ito0Masashi Yamamoto1Minoru Kihara2Naoyoshi Onoda3Akihiro Miya4Akira Miyauchi5Department of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanDepartment of Head and Neck Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanDepartment of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanDepartment of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanDepartment of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanDepartment of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, Hyogo 650-0011, JapanThe latest “General Rules for the Description of Thyroid Cancer,” published in 2023, introduced depth-based subcategories of tumor invasion, dividing sEx2 into sEx2a, sEx2b, and sEx3. However, the “Clinical Guidelines on the Management of Thyroid Tumors,” published in 2024, continue to classify these categories uniformly as high-risk for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We evaluated the appropriateness of reclassifying sEx2a-high-risk patients as intermediate-risk. A total of 9,247 patients [median age: 52 years (7–93)] who underwent locally curative surgery were enrolled, with a median follow-up of 7.8 years. Cause-specific survival (CSS), distant recurrence-free survival (DR-FS), and local recurrence-free survival (LR-FS) worsened progressively from low-risk to high-risk patients. We compared the prognoses among the patients classified as sEx2a-high-risk, sEx2b, and intermediate-risk. The CSS, DR-FS, and LR-FS outcomes of sEx2b patients were significantly poorer than those of sEx2a-high-risk and intermediate-risk patients. By reclassifying sEx2a-high-risk patients as intermediate-risk, we established a new high-risk and intermediate-risk classification. The number of high-risk patients decreased from 2,274 to 1,132, whereas the number of intermediate-risk patients increased from 2,875 to 4,017. Prognoses in these new groups showed minimal differences compared to the original high- and intermediate-risk classifications. We established novel prognostic groups: favorable (N = 6,398, low-risk and intermediate-risk <55 years), intermediate (N = 2,324, intermediate-risk ≥55 years and high-risk <55 years), and poor (N = 525, high-risk ≥55 years). Prognoses significantly worsened across these groups from favorable to poor (p < 0.001). The reclassification of PTC based on tumor extension and the proposed novel prognostic groups provide a more accurate evaluation of PTC outcomes.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/72/6/72_EJ24-0610/_html/-char/enpapillary carcinomathyroidextrathyroidal extensionrisk classificationprognosis
spellingShingle Yasuhiro Ito
Masashi Yamamoto
Minoru Kihara
Naoyoshi Onoda
Akihiro Miya
Akira Miyauchi
Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
Endocrine Journal
papillary carcinoma
thyroid
extrathyroidal extension
risk classification
prognosis
title Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
title_full Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
title_fullStr Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
title_full_unstemmed Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
title_short Establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery
title_sort establishment of novel prognostic groups for papillary thyroid carcinoma using a modified risk classification based on tumor extension in the guidelines of the japan association of endocrine surgery
topic papillary carcinoma
thyroid
extrathyroidal extension
risk classification
prognosis
url https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/72/6/72_EJ24-0610/_html/-char/en
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