[Analysis of clinical characteristics of patients with thyroid cancer complicated by connective tissue disease].

Objective

To explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with thyroid cancer complicated by connective tissue disease.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 70 patients with thyroid cancer complicated by connective tissue disease who were admitted to the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from May 30, 2006, to April 30, 2024 and telephone follow-up was performed.

Results

Among the 70 patients with thyroid cancer complicated by connective tissue disease, 68 cases (97.1%, 68/70) had papillary thyroid carcinoma, and 2 (2.9%, 2/70) had medullary thyroid carcinoma; 67 cases (95.7%, 67/70) were female. The age at diagnosis of thyroid cancer was (48.73±11.74) years, and the median interval from connective tissue disease diagnosis to thyroid cancer diagnosis was 7 years (range, 3 to 12 years). Among them, there were 29 cases (41.4%, 29/70) of rheumatoid arthritis, 24 cases (34.3%, 24/70) of Sjögren's syndrome, 12 cases (17.1%, 12/70) of systemic lupus erythematosus, 3 cases (4.3%, 3/70) of systemic sclerosis, and 2 cases (2.9%, 2/70) of dermatomyositis. The stages of thyroid cancer were stage Ⅰ in 55 cases (78.6%, 55/70), stage Ⅱ in 11 cases (15.7%, 11/70), stage Ⅲ in 1 case (1.4%, 1/70), and unknown in 3 cases (4.3%, 3/70). Multifocality was observed in 37 cases (52.9%,37/70), capsular invasion in 46 (65.7%,46/70) cases, perineural invasion in 1 (1.4%,1/70) case, and lymphovascular invasion in 3 (4.3%,3/70) cases. The median follow-up time was 73.50 months (range, 20.9 to 235.0 months). Six patients were lost to follow-up, one patient died of COVID-19 and the remaining 63 patients (98.4%, 63/64) did not experience recurrence or metastasis.

Conclusions

Patients with thyroid cancer complicated by connective tissue disease are mostly female, and the predominant pathological type is papillary thyroid carcinoma. Most patients are diagnosed at an early stage. No recurrence or metastasis was observed during follow-up,and further confirmation by large-sample studies is needed.