In this retrospective study, the relationship between the pN stage of TC and the ultrasound hypoechogenicity of tumour encapsulation and vascular invasion was investigated. The data of a total of 678 TC patients were analysed. The goal of this study was to assess the significance of the pTNM score and preoperative ultrasound features in predicting cancer prognosis and guiding therapeutic decisions in patients with TC. The main research methods included a retrospective analysis of patient data, mainly the pTNM score and presence of tumour encapsulation and vascular invasion obtained from histopathological results and preoperative ultrasound imaging. Patients with well-differentiated TCs (papillary and follicular) were extracted from TC patients to better unify the results because of similar clinical strategies for these TCs. Significant associations were observed between advanced pN stage and the presence of encapsulation and vessel invasion. The majority of pN1a patients exhibited encapsulation (77.71%;p< 0.0001) and vascular invasion (75.30%;p< 0.0001), as did the majority of pN1b patients (100%;p< 0.0001 and 100%;p< 0.0001, respectively). Less than half of the patients with hypoeghogenic patterns presented with encapsulation (43.30%;p< 0.0001) and vascular invasion (43.52%;p< 0.0001), while the vast majority of patients without hypoechogenicity did not present with encapsulation (90.97%;p< 0.0001) or vascular invasion (90.97%;p< 0.0001). Hypoechogenicity was found to be indicative of aggressive tumour behaviour. The results of this study underscore the importance of accurate N staging in TC and suggests the potential use of ultrasound features in predicting tumour behaviour. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore additional prognostic markers to streamline TC management strategies and improve patient outcomes.
本回顾性研究探讨了甲状腺癌（TC）的pN分期与肿瘤包膜及血管侵犯的超声低回声特征之间的关系。共分析了678例TC患者的数据。本研究旨在评估pTNM分期及术前超声特征在预测TC患者癌症预后和指导治疗决策中的意义。主要研究方法包括对患者数据进行回顾性分析，重点分析从组织病理学结果和术前超声影像中获得的pTNM分期、肿瘤包膜及血管侵犯情况。为统一结果，从TC患者中提取分化良好的TC（乳头状和滤泡状）患者，因为这些TC的临床治疗策略相似。研究发现，晚期pN分期与包膜和血管侵犯的存在显著相关。大多数pN1a患者表现出包膜（77.71%；p<0.0001）和血管侵犯（75.30%；p<0.0001），pN1b患者同样如此（分别为100%；p<0.0001和100%；p<0.0001）。不到一半的低回声模式患者出现包膜（43.30%；p<0.0001）和血管侵犯（43.52%；p<0.0001），而绝大多数无低回声特征的患者未出现包膜（90.97%；p<0.0001）或血管侵犯（90.97%；p<0.0001）。低回声特征被证实是肿瘤侵袭性行为的指标。本研究结果强调了准确进行TC N分期的重要性，并提示超声特征在预测肿瘤行为方面的潜在应用价值。未来需要进一步研究以确认这些发现，并探索更多预后标志物，以优化TC管理策略并改善患者预后。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家