Endocrine Abstracts

Background: New emerging studies demonstrated that mortality from thyroid cancer and disease recurrence was significantly higher among Filipinos compared with other ethnic groups. However, exact mechanisms which could explain these findings among Filipino patients remain to be poorly understood. The risk factors associated with disease recurrence among adult Filipino patients with low-risk papillary thyroid cancer in Manila Doctors Hospital was assessed in this study.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study which included 39 Filipino patients diagnosed with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma treated at Manila Doctors Hospital. Demographic characteristics, pertinent clinical data and physical findings were extracted from the medical charts. Clinical and biochemical parameters were analyzed to determine their association with disease recurrence using Multivariate regression analysis. Cox regression analysis was done to identify significant risk factors for disease recurrence.

Results: Out of the 39 patients included in the study, 8 patients had disease recurrence (20.5%). Anti-Tg antibody level of ≤50 u/ml demonstrated significant protection against the development of disease recurrence (HR: 0.13, P value: 0.015). Tumor diameter of more than 4 cm (HR 34.10, P value 0.012) was significantly associated with disease recurrence.

Conclusion: Our study showed that the incidence of disease recurrence was 20.5%, and anti-Tg antibody level of ≤ 50 u/ml and tumor diameter of more than 4 cm demonstrated significant protection against disease recurrence and significant association with disease recurrence, respectively. The identification of risk factors for disease recurrence may help guide us in providing specific treatments tailored for low-risk PTC Filipino patients and closer follow up interval to further improve the outcome.

Keywords: disease recurrence, low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma, Filipino.