Research Article: Clinical spectrum and treatment of thyroid lymphoma: results of a cohort study of 61 patients
Abstract:
Thyroid lymphoma (TL) is a rare malignancy. Its diagnosis is challenging due to non-specific clinical features, with management controversies, concurrent with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), and heterogeneous prognoses across subtypes. This study aimed to analyze clinical spectrum and explore optimal treatment strategies to improve prognosis of TL.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 61 patients with TL diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from 2014 to 2025.
Among 61 patients, 67.2% had concurrent HT. The TL+ group (TL with extrathyroid involvement, 11 patients, 18.0%) showed more frequent subdiaphragmatic lymph node involvement (p<0.001) and perivascular lymph node involvement (p=0.003) compared with the iTL group (isolated TL, 50 patients, 82.0%). With a median follow-up of 22 months, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 85.0%, 78.4%, and 75.6%, and PFS rates were 76.5%, 71.7%, and 63.1%. DLBCL was the most common histological subtype, accounting for 60.7% of all TL cases. In patients with thyroid diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (TDLBCL), age ?60 years and C-myc expression ?50% were independent risk factors for shorter PFS, whereas chemotherapy was independently associated with improved PFS and OS. Surgery alone without chemotherapy was associated with shorter PFS in univariate analysis.
TL with extrathyroidal involvement shares features with isolated disease but requires Ann Arbor staging-guided management. Chemotherapy was independently associated with improved PFS and OS in patients with thyroid diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, whereas older age and high C-myc expression were independently associated with inferior PFS.
Introduction:
Thyroid lymphoma (TL) is a rare malignancy. Its diagnosis is challenging due to non-specific clinical features, with management controversies, concurrent with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), and heterogeneous prognoses across subtypes. This study aimed to analyze clinical spectrum and explore optimal treatment strategies to improve prognosis of TL.
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