Study the relation between DTC patients age based on TNM classification and the success of radioiodine (131I) ablation therapy

The main goal of the present study was to examine the correlation between the age of 45 years and the TNM classification of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients who had radioiodine therapy (RIT) and its effect on ablation success. This cohort study included one hundred (70 % female and 30 % male) patients with DTC who underwent thyroid surgery. The retrospective patient data were collected from three different nuclear medicine departments in KSA and subdivided into two groups. The first group (G1≥45 years) with median age of 52.0 (IQR 48–57) years, whereas the median age was 31.0 (IQR 27–37) years for the second group (G2<45 years). Moreover, RIT was classified according to the risk factors into high, low, and very low risk based on the TNM stages. The p-values for T-staging and N-staging were 0.7338 (73.38 %) and 0.9668 (96.68 %), respectively. These findings revealed no statistically significant correlation between the G1 and G2 groups for the T and N stages of DTC patients. In contrast, M-staging with a p-value of 0.0026 at the M0 stage indicates that there is a statistically significant between these two groups. Nevertheless, age at diagnosis is one of the most significant predictive factors for patients with DTC. The patient's age of 45 rather than 55 years or more may be a more moderate factor in risk stratification in combination with other traditional risk indicators (tumor size, distant metastases, and treatment). However, the patient's age has a limited effect on the success of RIT ablation.