BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to assess the impact of adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) on survival in patients with locally invasive papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Propensity score analysis was performed on 870 patients with surgically resected T4 papillary thyroid carcinoma, identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database between 1988 and 2013. RESULTS: EBRT was associated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.18-2.16) and disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR 1.58, 1.09-2.30). Subset analysis of patients with major extrathyroidal invasion showed that EBRT was associated with worse OS (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.04-2.25), but not with DSS (HR 1.57, 95% CI 0.99-2.50). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant EBRT, in the initial management of locally invasive papillary thyroid cancer, was not associated with a survival benefit. Future studies are needed to determine which subset of patients may benefit from adjuvant EBRT.
BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to assess the impact of adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) on survival in patients with locally invasive papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Propensity score analysis was performed on 870 patients with surgically resected T4 papillary thyroid carcinoma, identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database between 1988 and 2013. RESULTS:EBRT was associated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.18-2.16) and disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR 1.58, 1.09-2.30). Subset analysis of patients with major extrathyroidal invasion showed that EBRT was associated with worse OS (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.04-2.25), but not with DSS (HR 1.57, 95% CI 0.99-2.50). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant EBRT, in the initial management of locally invasive papillary thyroid cancer, was not associated with a survival benefit. Future studies are needed to determine which subset of patients may benefit from adjuvant EBRT.