Prognostic impact of extra-nodal extension in thyroid cancer: A meta-analysis

Background and Objectives Lymph node involvement is common in thyroid cancer, but the system of staging does not consider the histological features of lymph node metastases. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic role of extranodal extension (ENE) in thyroid cancer patients. Methods We ran PubMed and SCOPUS searches without language restrictions. Prospective studies reporting data on overall mortality, cancer-specific mortality, or disease recurrence including thyroid cancer patients, in which cases with ENE (ENE+) were compared with those with only intranodal disease (ENE-) were eligible. Data were summarized using risk ratios (RR) for number of deaths/recurrences, and …