Identification of risk factors of regional metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer

Diagnostic difficulties of regional metastases, especially lesion of the central neck, is the main problem with choosing the type of surgical intervention for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosis. The frequency of differentiated thyroid cancer regional metastasis to the neck lymph nodes is about 60 %. This article includes the search and identification of risk factors of differentiated thyroid cancer regional metastases, as well as a review of the literature on this problem. We have analyzed the results of surgical treatment of patients with papillary thyroid cancer of Stage I–III (T1–4aN0–1bM0) who underwent surgical treatment at the St. Petersburg State Healthcare Institution «City Clinical Oncology Center» in 2018–2019. As a result of the study, the data revealed a relationship between regional metastases and intrathyroid vascular invasion of the primary tumor (p < 0.05), while multifocality, extrathyroid extension and the incidence of BRAF mutation have not demonstrated this correlation (p > 0.05). After the surgical treatment we should focus on the presence of vascular invasion and, if it is detected, perform final thyroidectomy and central lymph node dissection with subsequent radioiodine therapy.