Clinical, pathological and molecular predictors of recurrence in papillary thyroid cancer in adolescents and young adults

Aim. To evaluate the clinical, pathological and molecular factors associated with recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma in adolescents and young adults.

Materials and methods. The study design was a multicentre retrospective study. The study included 246 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, divided into two age groups: adolescents and young adults (aged 15 – 39 years) and patients over 39 years of age.

Results and discussion. Adolescents and young adults were found to have larger primary tumours, a

higher incidence of lymph node metastases (43.8% versus 23.4%; p=0.007) and a higher rate of recurrence (8.9% versus 2.0%; p=0.035). The BRAF V600E mutation was less common in adolescents and young adults (52.6% versus 76.1%; p=0.001). In the group of adolescents and young adults, recurrence was associated with lymph node metastases, a higher T stage, the TERT-p mutation, and the BRAF V600E/TERT-p combination.

Conclusions. The obtained results indicate that in adolescents and young adults, papillary thyroid carcinoma is characterized by a more aggressive locoregional course, which justifies the need for a comprehensive clinical and molecular assessment of the risk of relapse.

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