Fig. 1Tall cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma exhibits elongated follicular and closely packed papillary growth patterns. Tall cells display prominent cell membranes, dense eosinophilic cytoplasm, and nuclear features typical of papillary carcinoma.
Fig. 2Classic papillary thyroid carcinomas with tall cell features contain 10% to 50% of cells with tall cell characteristics. (C) Dotted lines show the area containing tall cells. Tall cells are arranged back-to-back in a parallel pattern. Two small boxes indicate regions enlarged images (A, classic papillary; B, tall cells).
Table 1.Clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) according to histopathologic types
Characteristic |
Classic PTC (A) (%) |
Classic PTC with TCF (B) (%) |
TCVPTC (C) (%) |
p-value (A vs B+C) |
p-value (A vs B) |
p-value (B vs C) |
No. of cases |
203 |
149 |
95 |
|
|
|
Mean age |
47.6 |
51.0 |
47.1 |
.000 |
.000 |
.017 |
Age (yr) |
|
|
|
.002 |
.000 |
.042 |
< 45 |
95 (46.8) |
41 (27.5) |
38 (40.0) |
|
|
|
≥ 45 |
108 (53.2) |
108 (72.5) |
57 (60.0) |
|
|
|
Gender |
|
|
|
NS |
NS |
NS |
Female |
164 (80.8) |
123 (82.6) |
82 (86.3) |
|
|
|
Male |
39 (19.2) |
26 (17.4) |
13 (13.7) |
|
|
|
Multifocality |
|
|
|
NS |
.040 |
NS |
Single |
111 (54.7) |
65 (43.6) |
49 (51.6) |
|
|
|
Multiple |
92 (45.3) |
84 (56.4) |
46 (48.4) |
|
|
|
pT stage |
|
|
|
.000 |
.000 |
NS |
pT1 |
126 (62.0) |
41 (27.5) |
23 (24.2) |
|
|
|
pT2 |
3 (1.5) |
3 (2.0) |
0 (0) |
|
|
|
pT3 |
74 (36.5) |
104 (69.8) |
71 (74.7) |
|
|
|
pT4 |
0 (0) |
1 (0.7) |
1 (1.1) |
|
|
|
ETE |
|
|
|
.000 |
.000 |
NS |
Absent |
129 (63.5) |
44 (29.5) |
23 (24.2) |
|
|
|
Present |
74 (36.5) |
105 (70.5) |
72 (75.8) |
|
|
|
pN stagea
|
|
|
|
.000 |
.003 |
NS |
pN0 |
105 (51.7) |
51 (35.4) |
27 (29.0) |
|
|
|
pN1 |
98 (48.3) |
93 (64.6) |
66 (71.0) |
|
|
|
Lateral LNM |
|
|
|
.003 |
.002 |
NS |
Absent |
191 (94.1) |
121 (84.0) |
81 (87.1) |
|
|
|
Present |
12 (5.9) |
23 (16.0) |
12 (12.9) |
|
|
|
BRAF mutationb
|
|
|
|
.000 |
.000 |
NS |
Absent |
34 (16.7) |
4 (3.1) |
3 (3.6) |
|
|
|
Present |
169 (83.3) |
127 (96.9) |
80 (96.4) |
|
|
|
Table 2.Multivariate analysis of clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma according to histopathologic type
Characteristic |
Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)
|
A vs B+C |
A vs B |
B vs C |
Age (< 45 yr vs ≥ 45 yr) |
1.92 (1.22-3.01)a
|
2.39 (1.42-4.04)a
|
0.66 (0.36-1.23) |
Gender (female vs male) |
0.88 (0.50-1.56) |
1.03 (0.54-1.95) |
0.63 (0.28-1.42) |
Multifocality (unifocal vs multifocal) |
1.28 (0.83-1.97) |
1.50 (0.92-2.44) |
0.68 (0.38-1.21) |
ETE (absent vs present) |
3.30 (2.13-5.10)a
|
2.81 (1.70-4.64)a
|
1.57 (0.82-2.98) |
LN metastasis (absent vs present) |
1.84 (1.17-2.90)a
|
1.71 (1.01-2.90)a
|
1.10 (0.58-2.07) |
BRAF mutation (absent vs present) |
5.14 (2.15-12.65)a
|
5.26 (1.75-15.76)a
|
0.82 (0.17-3.91) |
Table 3.Clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTC) (≤1.0 cm) according to histopathologic type
Characteristic |
Classic PTC (A) (%) |
Classic PTC with TCF (B) (%) |
TCVPTC (C) (%) |
p-value (A vs B+C) |
p-value (A vs B) |
p-value (B vs C) |
No. of cases |
164 |
67 |
43 |
|
|
|
Mean age (yr) |
45.6 |
51.3 |
48.7 |
.001 |
.000 |
NS |
Age (yr) |
|
|
|
.003 |
.006 |
NS |
< 45 |
76 (46.3) |
18 (26.9) |
13 (30.2) |
|
|
|
≥ 45 |
88 (53.7) |
49 (73.1) |
30 (69.8) |
|
|
|
Gender |
|
|
|
.034 |
NS |
NS |
Female |
132 (80.5) |
60 (89.6) |
39 (90.7) |
|
|
|
Male |
32 (19.5) |
7 (10.4) |
4 (9.3) |
|
|
|
Multifocality |
|
|
|
.033 |
.035 |
NS |
Single |
96 (58.5) |
29 (43.3) |
21 (48.8) |
|
|
|
Multiple |
68 (41.5) |
38 (56.7) |
22 (51.2) |
|
|
|
pT stage |
|
|
|
.000 |
.000 |
NS |
pT1a |
120 (73.2) |
28 (41.8) |
17 (39.5) |
|
|
|
pT3 |
44 (26.8) |
39 (58.2) |
26 (60.5) |
|
|
|
pN stagea
|
|
|
|
.014 |
NS |
NS |
pN0 |
94 (57.3) |
29 (45.3) |
15 (36.6) |
|
|
|
pN1 |
70 (42.7) |
35 (54.7) |
26 (63.4) |
|
|
|
Lateral LNM |
|
|
|
.045 |
.007 |
NS |
Absent |
160 (97.6) |
57 (89.1) |
40 (97.6) |
|
|
|
Present |
4 (2.4) |
7 (10.9) |
1 (2.4) |
|
|
|
BRAF mutationb
|
|
|
|
.001 |
.005 |
NS |
Absent |
29 (17.7) |
2 (3.3) |
2 (5.1) |
|
|
|
Present |
135 (82.3) |
59 (96.7) |
37 (94.9) |
|
|
|
Table 4.Multivariate analysis of clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma subtypes according to age group (<45 years and ≥45 years)
Characteristic |
Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)
|
A vs B+C |
A vs B |
B vs C |
Age < 45 yr |
|
|
|
Gender (female vs male) |
0.68 (0.29-1.60) |
0.96 (0.35-2.58) |
0.44 (0.11-1.72) |
Multifocality (unifocal vs multifocal) |
0.93 (0.45-1.89) |
1.44 (0.59-3.47) |
0.37 (0.13-1.04) |
ETE (absent vs present) |
2.91 (1.45-5.85)a
|
2.99 (1.25-7.10)a
|
0.82 (0.28-2.38) |
LN metastasis (absent vs present) |
2.95 (1.33-6.56)a
|
3.76 (1.25-11.30)a
|
0.53 (0.15-1.92) |
BRAF mutation (absent vs present) |
16.58 (2.04-135.07)a
|
7.75E8 |
0.00 |
Age ≥ 45 yr |
|
|
|
Gender (female vs male) |
1.04 (0.48-2.28) |
1.06 (0.45-2.48) |
0.83 (0.30-2.29) |
Multifocality (unifocal vs multifocal) |
1.48 (0.86-2.57) |
1.43 (0.79-2.61) |
0.96 (0.47-1.97) |
ETE (absent vs present) |
3.62 (2.05-6.38)a
|
2.80 (1.50-5.21)a
|
2.18 (0.92-5.15) |
LN metastasis (absent vs present) |
1.49 (0.84-2.63) |
1.31 (0.70-2.46) |
1.34 (0.64-2.84) |
BRAF mutation (absent vs present) |
3.55 (1.27-9.97)a
|
3.33 (1.04-10.71)a
|
1.03 (0.17-6.15) |