The long-term clinical outcome of the PTC patients who had been treated by lobectomy without RAI ablation was excellent. Based on the above results, we concluded that lobectomy is a valid alternative to total thyroidectomy for the treatment of PTC patients who are younger than aged 45 years, whose tumor diameter is 40 mm or less, and who do not have clinical lymph node metastasis or extrathyroidal invasion.

The sixth edition more accurately predicts different outcomes according to the revised criteria for the degree of extrathyroid extension.

genes. In all, 71 kidney surgical samples were evaluated using reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for GLUT1-14 in normal and tumour (clear cell, papillary and chromophobe RCC, and oncocytoma) tissues. The expression levels for GLUT1-5, 9, 10 and 12 were quantified by real-time quantitative PCR. RESULTSThe RT-PCR results showed that normal kidney tissue expresses all the GLUT isoforms. In clear cell RCC GLUT1 expression increased ( P < 0.001) while GLUT4, 9 and 12 decreased ( P < 0.001). In papillary RCC there were no significant increases in GLUT expression, with only GLUT12 significantly expressed at lower levels ( P < 0.001). In chromophobe RCC the expression of GLUT4 increased ( P < 0.05), and GLUT2 and 5 decreased ( P < 0.01), whereas in oncocytoma tissue there were no significant changes in the expression of GLUT1 ( P < 0.01), 2, 5, 9 ( P < 0.001) and 10 ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that high-affinity GLUTs might have a major role in enhanced glucose uptake in kidney tumours, and that histopathological types are characterized by specific patterns of GLUT expression.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis and is resistant to the majority of chemotherapies. In 2015, lenvatinib was approved for treating ATC in Japan. The present study aimed to evaluate the overall survival (OS) of patients with ATC treated with lenvatinib. A total of 23 patients with a definitive histological diagnosis of ATC who were treated at Kanagawa Cancer Center (Yokohama, Kanagawa. Japan) were enrolled. Surgical treatment was possible in 10 patients (including one debulking surgery), and lenvatinib treatment was postoperatively started. The remaining 13 patients were not eligible for debulking surgery; thus, lenvatinib was promptly approved as a life-saving treatment. The therapeutic effect was determined according to the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors criteria (ver.1.1). The patients exhibited a lenvatinib response rate of 17.4% and a disease control rate of 43.5%. However, lenvatinib was associated with a 100% incidence of treatment-related adverse events (AEs), with hypertension being the most common AE (91.3%). Additionally, dose interruptions and reductions were required due to the development of tumor fistulas or other tumor-related AEs, and 9 (39.1%) patients discontinued treatment due to grade 3 or higher AEs. The median OS time was 166 days. Overall, the present study demonstrated the effectiveness of lenvatinib against ATC, which is often chemotherapy-resistant. Successful treatment of fistulas developing due to tumor necrosis at the site of the primary lesion is crucial for improving the patient outcome. The response to lenvatinib in patients with ATC varies on a case-by-case basis and requires further investigation in future studies.

Lymphadenopathy and microscopic nodal status are significantly related to recurrence. Only a few nodes seem to be involved pathologically when no lymphadenopathy.