Metastases to the regional lymph nodes, lymph node recurrence, and distant metastases in nonadvanced papillary thyroid carcinoma.

To investigate the biological characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma from the perspectives of lymph node metastasis, lymph node recurrence, and distant metastasis, 746 patients with nonadvanced papillary thyroid carcinoma were retrospectively studied. There were 76 men and 670 women with a mean age of 42.7 years. The rate of lymph node metastasis was significantly higher in young patients (aged less than 30 years). Lymph node recurrence was observed in 80 patients and distant metastasis in 13, being seen with significant frequency in the young and elderly (aged over 50 years) patients and in the men. The frequency of distant metastasis was significantly greater in the elderly patients and in those with lymph node recurrence. These findings indicate that the role of regional lymph nodes and the clinical meaning of lymph node recurrence differ between young and elderly patients.