Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Dual-channel ultrasonic images empowered deep learning: significantly improving prediction of occult central lymph node metastases in solitary papillary thyroid microcarcinoma Cover

Dual-channel ultrasonic images empowered deep learning: significantly improving prediction of occult central lymph node metastases in solitary papillary thyroid microcarcinoma

By: Meihua Li,  Chao Jia,  Gang Li,  Qiusheng Shi and  Long Liu  
Open Access
|Feb 2026

References

  1. Limaiem F, Rehman A, Mazzoni T. Papillary thyroid carcinoma. [internet]. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2025. [cited 2025 Jul 15]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536943/
  2. Weller S, Chu C, Lam AK. Assessing the rise in papillary thyroid cancer incidence: a 38-year Australian study Investigating WHO classification influence. J Epidemiol Glob Health 2025; 15: 9. doi: 10.1007/s44197-025-00354-5
  3. Luo Y, Zhao Y, Chen K, Shen J, Shi J, Lu S, et al. Clinical analysis of cervical lymph node metastasis risk factors in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. J Endocrinol Invest 2019; 42: 227-36. doi: 10.1007/s40618-018-0908-y
  4. Varshney R, Pakdaman MN, Sands N, Hier MP, Rochon L, Black MJ, et al. Lymph node metastasis in thyroid papillary microcarcinoma: a study of 170 patients. J Laryngol Otol 2014; 128: 922-25. doi: 10.1017/S0022215114001704
  5. Medas F, Canu GL, Cappellacci F, Boi F, Lai ML, Erdas E, et al. Predictive factors of Lymph node metastasis in patients with papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid: retrospective analysis on 293 cases. Front Endocrinol 2020; 11: 551. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00551
  6. Baek SK, Jung KY, Kang SM, Kwon SY, Woo JS, Cho SH, et al. Clinical risk factors associated with cervical lymph node recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid 2010; 20: 147-52. doi: 10.1089/thy.2008.0243
  7. Liu H, Li Y, Mao Y. Local lymph node recurrence after central neck dissection in papillary thyroid cancers: a meta analysis. Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis 2019; 136: 481-87. doi: 10.1016/j.anorl.2018.07.010
  8. Kim BY, Choi N, Kim SW, Jeong HS, Chung MK, Son YI. Randomized trial of prophylactic ipsilateral central lymph node dissection in patients with clinically node negative papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2020; 277: 569-76. doi: 10.1007/s00405-019-05702-3
  9. Parvathareddy SK, Siraj AK, Ahmed SO, DeVera F, Al-Sobhi SS, Al-Dayel F, et al. Risk factors for central lymph node metastases and benefit of prophylactic central lymph node dissection in middle eastern patients with cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma. Front Oncol 2022; 11: 819824. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.819824
  10. Patrone R, Velotti N, Masone S, Conzo A, Flagiello L, Cacciatore C, et al. Management of low-risk thyroid cancers: Is active surveillance a valid option? A systematic review of the literature. J Clin Med 2021; 10: 3569. doi: 10.3390/jcm10163569
  11. Wang Y, Nie F, Wang G, Liu T, Dong T, Sun Y. Value of combining clinical factors, conventional ultrasound, and contrast-enhanced ultrasound features in preoperative prediction of central lymph node metastases of different sized papillary thyroid carcinomas. Cancer Manag Res 2021; 13: 3403-15. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S299157
  12. Wang Y, Tan HL, Duan SL, Li N, Ai L, Chang S. Predicting central cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma using deep learning. Peer J 2024; 12: e16952. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16952
  13. Wu F, Lin X, Chen Y, Ge M, Pan T, Shi J, et al. Breaking barriers: noninvasive AI model for BRAFV600E mutation identification. Int J Comput Assist Radiol 2025; 20: 935-47. doi: 10.1007/s11548-024-03290-0
  14. Zhao W, Shen S, Ke T, Jiang J, Wang Y, Xie X, et al. Clinical value of dualenergy CT for predicting occult metastasis in central neck lymph nodes of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Eur Radiol 2024; 34: 16-25. doi: 10.1007/s00330-023-10004-8
  15. Chang L, Zhang Y, Zhu J, Hu L, Wang X, Zhang H, et al. An integrated nomogram combining deep learning, clinical characteristics and ultrasound features for predicting central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer: a multicenter study. Front Endocrinol 2023; 14: 964074. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.964074
  16. Shi Y, Yang Z, Heng Y, Ju H, Pan Y, Zhang Y. Clinicopathological findings associated with cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a retrospective study in China. Cancer Control 2022; 29: 10732748221084926. doi: 10.1177/10732748221084926
  17. Han B, Hao S, Wu J, Fang J, Han Z. Predictive features of central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: roles of active surveillance in over-treatment. Front Med 2022; 9: 906648. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.906648
  18. Wang Z, Qu L, Chen Q, Zhou Y, Duan H, Li B, et al. Deep learning-based multifeature integration robustly predicts central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer. BMC Cancer 2023; 23: 128. doi: 10.1186/s12885-023-10598-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2026-0006 | Journal eISSN: 1581-3207 | Journal ISSN: 1318-2099
Language: English
Submitted on: May 5, 2025
|
Accepted on: Aug 20, 2025
|
Published on: Feb 6, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2026 Meihua Li, Chao Jia, Gang Li, Qiusheng Shi, Long Liu, published by Association of Radiology and Oncology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

AHEAD OF PRINT