Post-surgical ablative or adjuvant radioiodine therapy has no impact on outcome in 1–4 cm differentiated thyroid cancers without extrathyroidal extension

Whether to conduct remnant ablation or adjuvant radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy in patients with intrathyroidal differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), sized 1.1–4 cm, is debated. We evaluated the impact of RAI on outcome in this category of DTCs. We retrospectively enrolled 308 patients submitted to total thyroidectomy: 198 had tumors sized 1.1–2 cm (Group 1) and 110 of 2.1–4 cm (Group 2). Both groups were divided into patients receiving and not receiving RAI after surgery. RAI+ and RAI− patients did not significantly differ, regarding several clinical and pathological features. Final outcome was defined according to dynamic risk stratification. Remission was observed in the majority of Group 1 and Group 2 patients and outcome did not significantly differ between RAI+ and RAI− patients: respectively, 95.8% vs. 93.7% in Group 1, and 87.7% vs. 86.5% in Group 2. The majority of persistent cases, either RAI+ or RAI−, received therapeutic RAI administration, and about 50% of RAI− cases had an excellent response at final follow up, whereas no RAI+ persistent patients had a beneficial effect. Our findings demonstrate that patients with an intrathyroidal DTC sized 1.1–4 cm do not benefit from RAI. The outcome of these patients remains favorable, and the few patients with persistent diseases can be treated with RAI during follow up.