The identification of certain sonographic features of thyroid nodules can allow for low-risk patients to avoid biopsy, according to research to be presented Monday at the 2009 American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) meeting in Boston.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco studied 245 patients, 54 of whom had thyroid cancer. Certain sonographic features were found to suggest malignancy and should lead to biopsy, according to lead author Dr. Dorra Sellami.
Microcalcifications increased the risk of cancer 16-fold, while a thyroid nodule shape that is taller than wide increased the risk of cancer 3.7-fold. Another feature, hypoechogenicity, represented a twofold increase in cancer risk, according to the researchers.
Hyperechogenicity is characterized by only a 40% increase in risk of cancer and may suggest that a nodule is benign, Sellami said.
In other findings, 49% of patients with no thyroid cancer had at least one nodule greater than or equal to 10 mm. Current clinical guidelines recommend biopsy of all lesions of that size.
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