Thyroglobulin Antibody (TgAb) Positive is an Independent Risk Factor for Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

Figures & data

Table 1 The Clinicopathological Features of DTC Patients

Clinicopathological features	DTC patients (n=443), n (%)
Gender
Male	72(16.3%)
Female	371(83.7%)
Age
<55	354(79.9%)
≥55	89(20.1%)
Maximum tumor diameter
≤1cm	242(54.6%)
>1cm	201(45.4%)
Disease stage
I-II	405(91.4%)
III-IV	38(8.6%)
Lymph node metastasis
No	185(41.8%)
Yes	258(58.2%)
Distant metastasis
No	437(98.6%)
Yes	6(1.4%)
Calcification
No	291(65.7%)
Yes	152(34.3%)
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
No	394(88.9%)
Yes	49(11.1%)
Extra-membrane infiltration
No	402(90.7%)
Yes	41(9.3%)
BRAF V600E mutation
–	65(14.7%)
+	378(85.3%)
Thyroid-related hormone and antibody levels
TSH(uIU/mL), –/+	425(95.9%)/18(4.1%)
FT3(pg/mL), –/+	429(96.8%)/14(3.2%)
FT4(ng/dl), –/+	428(96.6%)/15(3.4%)
TgAb(IU/mL), –/+	227(51.2%)/216(48.8%)
TPOAb(IU/mL), –/+	273(61.6%)/170(38.4%)

Abbreviations: TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone; FT3, free triiodothyronine; FT4, free thyroxine; TgAb, anti-thyroglobulin antibody; TPOAb, anti-thyroperoxidase antibody.

Table 2 Association Between Lymph Node Metastasis and Clinicopathological Features of DTC Patients

Clinicopathological features	Lymph node metastasis		P value
	No (n=185)	Yes (n=258)
Gender
Male	26(14.1%)	46(17.8%)	0.300
Female	159(85.9%)	212(82.2%)
Age
<55	132(71.4%)	222(86.0%)	<0.001
≥55	53(28.6%)	36(14.0%)
Maximum tumor diameter
≤1cm	123(66.5%)	119(46.1%)	<0.001
>1cm	62(33.5%)	139(53.9%)
Calcification
No	132(71.4%)	159(61.6%)	0.034
Yes	53(28.6%)	99(38.4%)
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
No	165(89.2%)	229(88.8%)	1.000
Yes	20(10.8%)	29(11.2%)
Extra-membrane infiltration
No	172(93.0%)	230(89.1%)	0.187
Yes	13(7.0%)	28(10.9%)
BRAF V600E mutation
–	35(18.9%)	30(11.6%)	0.041
+	150(81.1%)	228(88.4%)
Thyroid-related hormone and antibody levels
TSH(uIU/mL), –/+	179(96.8%)/6(3.2%)	246(95.3%)/12(4.7%)	0.480
FT3(pg/mL), –/+	181(97.8%)/4(2.2%)	248(96.1%)/10(3.9%)	0.413
FT4(ng/dl), –/+	180(97.3%)/5(2.7%)	248(96.1%)/10(3.9%)	0.600
TgAb(IU/mL), –/+	106(57.3%)/79(42.7%)	121(46.9%)/137(53.1%)	0.034
TPOAb(IU/mL), –/+	120(64.9%)/65(35.1%)	153(59.3%)/105(40.7%)	0.276

Abbreviations: TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone; FT3, free triiodothyronine; FT4, free thyroxine; TgAb, anti-thyroglobulin antibody; TPOAb, anti-thyroperoxidase antibody.

Table 3 Logistic Regression Analysis of Risk Factors of Lymph Node Metastasis of DTC

Variables	Univariate		Multivariate
	OR (95% CI)	P value	OR (95% CI)	P value
Age (<55/≥55, years old)	2.476(1.540–3.981)	<0.001	2.744(1.665–4.522)	<0.001
Maximum tumor diameter (>1cm/≤1cm)	2.317(1.567–3.427)	<0.001	2.163(1.431–3.271)	<0.001
Calcification (Yes/No)	1.551(1.034–2.327)	0.034	1.489(0.964–2.301)	0.073
BRAF V600E mutation (±)	1.773(1.044–3.011)	0.034	2.489(1.397–4.434)	0.002
TgAb (±)	1.519(1.039–2.222)	0.031	1.540(1.020–2.326)	0.040

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 4 Association Between Lymph Node Metastasis and Clinicopathological Features of DTC Patients with TgAb (+) and TgAb (-), Respectively

Clinicopathological Features	Lymph Node Metastasis in DTC Patients with TgAb (-)		P value	Lymph Node Metastasis in DTC patients with TgAb (+)		P value
	No (n=106)	Yes (n=121)		No (n=79)	Yes (n=137)
Gender
Male	21(19.8%)	27(22.3%)	0.745	5(6.3%)	19(13.9%)	0.116
Female	85(80.2%)	94(77.7%)		74(93.7%)	118(86.1%)
Age
<55	80(75.5%)	102(84.3%)	0.133	52(65.8%)	120(87.6%)	<0.001
≥55	26(24.5%)	19(15.7%)		27(34.2%)	17(12.4%)
Maximum tumor diameter
≤1cm	76(71.7%)	65(53.7%)	0.006	47(59.5%)	54(39.4%)	0.005
>1cm	30(28.3%)	56(46.3%)		32(40.5%)	83(60.6%)
Calcification
No	81(76.4%)	77(63.6%)	0.043	51(64.6%)	82(59.9%)	0.562
Yes	25(23.6%)	44(36.4%)		28(35.4%)	55(40.1%)
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
No	105(99.1%)	120(99.2%)	1.000	60(75.9%)	109(79.6%)	0.608
Yes	1(0.9%)	1(0.8%)		19(24.1%)	28(20.4%)
Extra-membrane infiltration
No	101(95.3%)	108(89.3%)	0.138	71(89.9%)	122(89.1%)	1.000
Yes	5(4.7%)	13(10.7%)		8(10.1%)	15(10.9%)
BRAF V600E mutation
–	14(13.2%)	6(5.0%)	0.035	21(26.6%)	24(17.5%)	0.121
+	92(86.8%)	115(95.0%)		58(73.4%)	113(82.5%)

Abbreviation: TgAb, anti-thyroglobulin antibody.

Table 5 Logistic Regression Analysis of Risk Factors of Lymph Node Metastasis in DTC Patients with TgAb (+) and TgAb (-)

Variables	DTC Patients with TgAb (-)				DTC Patients with TgAb (+)
	Univariate		Multivariate		Univariate		Multivariate
	OR (95% CI)	P value	OR (95% CI)	P value	OR (95% CI)	P value	OR (95% CI)	P value
Age (<55/≥55, years old)	1.745(0.902–3.376)	0.098	1.916(0.947–3.876)	0.071	3.665(1.841–7.297)	<0.001	4.091(1.992–8.401)	<0.001
Maximum tumor diameter (>1cm/≤1cm)	2.183(1.255–3.796)	0.006	2.080(1.166–3.711)	0.013	2.258(1.283–3.972)	0.005	2.276(1.251–4.142)	0.007
Calcification (Yes/No)	1.851(1.035–3.312)	0.038	1.833(0.984–3.413)	0.056	1.222(0.688–2.168)	0.494	1.126(0.606–2.091)	0.707
BRAF V600E mutation (±)	2.917(1.078–7.888)	0.035	3.364(1.190–9.505)	0.022	1.705(0.876–3.317)	0.116	2.239(1.097–4.572)	0.027

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.