Association between different regional lymph node metastases of papillary thyroid carcinoma in adolescents and young adults.

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) describe the demographic aged between 15-39 years diagnosed with cancer. This group is particularly at risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with a greater severity compared with other ages. Through comparative design, the present study aimed to quantify central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) risk in AYAs. A total of 463 AYA patients with PTC and 489 patients >39 years old with PTC from Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital (Ningbo, China) were enrolled. Details such as demographic data, serum indices and fine-needle aspiration from the Electronic Medical Records System were extracted and analyzed. AYA patients had significantly higher rates of ipsilateral Hashimoto thyroiditis, thyroid capsular invasion (TCI), CLNM, larger tumors and more positive central lymph nodes (CLN). Independent risk factors of CLNM in AYA patients were as follows: Male sex, presence of TCI, multifocality, bilateral disease and maximum tumor diameter (MTD) ≥1.0 cm. Independent risk factors of lateral lymph node metastasis in AYAs with CLNM were as follows: MTD ≥1.0 cm, maximum diameter of positive CLN ≥1.0 cm, and presence of ipsilateral nodular goiter. Furthermore, AYA patients with PTC displayed significantly greater aggression in primary tumor invasion and neck lymph node metastasis. Based on these findings, a treatment stratification chart was created to guide the PTC treatment approach for AYAs. The present study is registered at the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (trial registration no. ChiCTR2200064921) in November 2022.