FRIDAY, April 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with multifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the rates of progression-free survival (PFS) do not differ between microwave ablation (MWA) and surgical resection (SR), according to a study published online April 2 in Radiology.
Zhen-Long Zhao, M.D., from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, and colleagues compared MWA and SR for preoperative ultrasound-detected T1N0M0 multifocal PTC in terms of overall and one-, three-, and five-year PFS rates in a retrospective study. Data were included for 775 patients.
After propensity score matching, 229 and 453 patients in the MWA and SR groups were observed for a median of 20 and 26 months, respectively. The researchers found less blood loss, shorter incision length, and shorter procedure and hospitalization durations in the MWA group. No evidence of differences in overall and one-, three-, or five-year PFS rates were seen between MWA and SR (five-year rate, 77.2 and 83.1 percent, respectively). In the SR group only, permanent hoarseness and hypoparathyroidism were encountered.
"MWA may be a promising option in the treatment of multifocal PTC, and further validation through prospective studies is recommended to solidify the role of MWA in the treatment paradigm of multifocal PTC," the authors write.
Abstract/Full Text
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
