Prophylactic lateral neck dissection for medullary thyroid carcinoma is not associated with improved survival Journal Article


Authors: Spanheimer, P. M.; Ganly, I.; Chou, J. F.; Capanu, M.; Nigam, A.; Ghossein, R. A.; Tuttle, R. M.; Wong, R. J.; Shaha, A. R.; Brennan, M. F.; Untch, B. R.
Article Title: Prophylactic lateral neck dissection for medullary thyroid carcinoma is not associated with improved survival
Abstract: Background: Patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) often receive lateral lymph node dissection with total thyroidectomy when calcitonin levels are elevated, even in the absence of structural disease, but the effect of this intervention on disease-specific outcomes is not known. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients from 1986 to 2017 who underwent thyroidectomy with curative intent for MTC at our institution. The association of disease-specific survival and clinicopathologic features was examined using univariate and multivariate Cox regression. Results: We identified 316 patients who underwent curative resection for MTC. Overall and disease-specific survival were 76% and 86%, respectively, at 10 years. To investigate the effect of prophylactic ipsilateral lateral lymph node dissection, we analyzed 89 patients without known structural disease in the neck lymph nodes at the time of resection and preoperative calcitonin > 200 pg/ml, of whom 45 had an ipsilateral lateral lymph node dissection (LND) and 44 did not. There were no differences in tumor size or preoperative calcitonin levels. There was no difference at 10 years in cumulative incidence of recurrence in the neck (20.9% LND vs. 30.4% no LND, p = 0.46), cumulative incidence of distant recurrence (18.3% vs. 18.4%, p = 0.97), disease-specific survival (86% vs. 93%, p = 0.53), or overall survival (82% vs. 90%, p = 0.6). Conclusion: Lateral neck dissection in the absence of clinical or radiologic abnormal lymph nodes is not associated with improved survival in patients with MTC. © 2021, Society of Surgical Oncology.
Journal Title: Annals of Surgical Oncology
Volume: 28
Issue: 11
ISSN: 1068-9265
Publisher: Springer  
Date Published: 2021-10-01
Start Page: 6572
End Page: 6579
Language: English
DOI: 10.1245/s10434-021-09683-8
PUBMED: 33748897
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8452790
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 1 October 2021 -- Source: Scopus
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
MSK Authors
  1. Joanne Fu-Lou Chou
    331 Chou
  2. Murray F Brennan
    1059 Brennan
  3. Ronald A Ghossein
    482 Ghossein
  4. Ashok R Shaha
    697 Shaha
  5. Robert M Tuttle
    481 Tuttle
  6. Marinela Capanu
    385 Capanu
  7. Richard J Wong
    412 Wong
  8. Ian Ganly
    430 Ganly
  9. Brian Untch
    65 Untch
  10. Aradhya Nigam
    12 Nigam