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Objectives We aimed to develop and validate radiologic scores from [18F]FDG PET/CT and MRI to guide individualized induction chemotherapy (IC) for patients with T3N1M0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 542 T3N1M0 patients who underwent pretreatment [18F]FDG PET/CT and MRI were enrolled in the training cohort. A total of 174 patients underwent biopsy of one or more cervical lymph nodes. Failure-free survival (FFS) was the primary endpoint. The radiologic score, which was calculated according to the number of risk factors from the multivariate model, was used for risk stratification. The survival difference of patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with or without IC was then compared in risk-stratified subgroups. Another cohort from our prospective clinical trial (N = 353, NCT03003182) was applied for validation. Results The sensitivity of [18F]FDG PET/CT was better than that of MRI (97.7% vs. 87.1%, p p n = 329) stratified by radiologic score benefited from IC (5-year FFS: IC + CCRT 83.5% vs. CCRT 70.5%; p = 0.0044), while low-risk patients (n = 213) did not. These results were verified again in the validation cohort. Conclusions T3N1M0 patients were accurately staged by both [18F]FDG PET/CT and MRI. The radiologic score can correctly identify high-risk patients who can gain additional survival benefit from IC and it can be used to guide individualized treatment of T3N1M0 NPC. Key Points • [18F]FDG PET/CT was more accurate than MRI in diagnosing histologically proven cervical lymph nodes. • Radiologic lymph node characteristics were reliable independent risk factors for FFS in T3N1M0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. • High-risk patients identified by the radiologic score based on [18F]FDG PET/CT and MRI could benefit from the addition of induction chemotherapy.

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to detect extracapsular extension (ECE) and identify the relationship between ECE and nodule enhancement patterns in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Patients with suspected thyroid cancer underwent ultrasound (US) and CEUS examinations. The US and CEUS features of the PTC nodules and thyroid capsule were recorded and classified individually. The accuracy of US and CEUS in detecting ECE was compared individually, and its relationship with various tumour enhancement patterns was analysed. The presence or absence of ECE and cervical lymph node metastasis (LNM) was confirmed pathologically. The final dataset included 119 patients with 124 PTC nodules. Seventy-two (60.5%) of these patients with PTC had no ECE (including 38 patients with single capsule invasion), while the remaining 52 had ECE. A significant difference was found in nodules with non-capsule invasion, single capsule invasion, and ECE between the cervical LNM and non-LNM groups (p < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that area under the curve (AUC) of ECE for cervical LNM was higher than that of capsule invasion (71.9% vs. 49.6%). Moreover, the CEUS images acquired to detect ECE showed higher AUC values than those of US images (79.4% vs. 65.8%) (p = 0.02). Among the PTC nodules with differential enhancement, hyper-enhanced nodules had the highest incidence of capsule invasion (41.9%), while hypo-enhanced ones had a higher incidence of ECE (47.4%). Compared with conventional US, CEUS is a more valuable and non-invasive imaging modality to detect ECE. • Single capsular invasion was a poor predictor of cervical lymph node metastasis, while extracapsular extension assessments were clinically significant for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis. • CEUS is better than conventional US in detecting extracapsular extension in papillary thyroid carcinoma (AUC: 79.4% vs. 65.8%) (p = 0.02). • Among the thyroid papillary carcinoma nodules with differential enhancement, hyper-enhanced nodules had the highest incidence of single capsule invasion (41.9%), while hypo-enhanced ones had a higher incidence of ECE (47.4%).

Minimally invasive therapies are gaining interest because of the indolence and excellent prognosis of low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for low-risk PTC and to determine the effects of ablation on subsequent surgical management.A medical record review was conducted including patients with low-risk PTC who underwent surgery after RFA from July 2015 to July 2021. Demographic characteristics, tumor characteristics, ablation procedures, surgical findings, and pathological changes were reviewed for all patients. The primary outcomes were surgical and pathological changes in post-ablation patients.Of the 10 patients with 11 PTCs, 9 (90%) were women; the median (SD) patient age was 41.5 (8.2) years. The maximum diameter range of PTCs was 3.0-12.0 mm. All 10 patients underwent rigorous RFA procedure involving a four-step approach, and had received surgical management. Intraoperatively, no patients had muscle and nerve injuries, and mild adhesion of the post-ablation lesions with the anterior cervical muscle was observed in two cases. Histopathologically, no residual PTCs were observed in the ablated areas in all patients. Central lymph node metastasis (LNM) was found in three (30.0%, pN1a). Occult PTCs were observed in three cases (30.0%).Our findings suggest that low-risk small PTCs can be completely treated with rigorous RFA, which does not affect subsequent surgical management, if necessary. RFA may be a treatment option, but occult PTCs and clinically negative LNMs may be overlooked. Long-term follow-up data are necessary to further identify its efficacy.• RFA can completely treat low-risk small PTC. • RFA does not affect the subsequent surgical management if necessary. • Because occult PTCs and clinically negative LNMs may be overlooked by RFA, long-term follow-up data are necessary to further identify its efficacy.