The Association between Lymphocytic Thyroiditis and Papillary Thyroid Cancer Harboring Mutant BRAF: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) co-occur with a prevalence of about 30%. PTC harboring BRAF(V600E) (PTC-BRAF) confers a worse prognosis, but it is unclear if LT alters prognostic features and recurrence of PTC. Objective: We compared the prevalence of PTC-BRAF with and without LT. The risk of adverse pathological features in (i) PTC in the presence and absence of BRAF mutation, irrespective of LT status, was compared to (ii) PTC in the presence and absence of LT, irrespective of BRAF status. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science Core Collection for observational studies published from 2010 to June 2023 on adult patients with PTC. The search strategy yielded 47 studies with relevant data. Data of baseline characteristics, clinicopathological features, and the quality assessment tool were extracted by two reviewers. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023437492). Results: Of the 47 studies, 39 studies with a total cohort of 28 143, demonstrated that the odds of PTC-BRAF were significantly lower in the presence of LT compared to its absence (odds ratio [OR] 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.48-0.58, p < 0.00001). In PTC-BRAF patients, there was a positive association of central neck nodal disease (CNND), PTC > 1 cm, extra-thyroidal extension, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Stage 3-4, and multifocality with pooled ORs of 1.54 (95% CI: 1.16-2.04), 1.14 (95% CI: 0.82-1.58), 1.66 (95% CI: 1.40-1.97), 1.53 (95% CI: 1.35-1.75), and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.11-1.40) respectively, compared to wild-type PTC, irrespective of LT status. In the same studies, PTC with LT patients had lower pooled ORs of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.51-0.81) for CNND, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73-0.95) for PTC > 1 cm, 0.71 (95% CI: 0.58-0.86) for ETE, 0.84 (95% CI: 0.75-0.94) for AJCC Stage 3-4 compared to PTC without LT, irrespective of BRAF status. PTC recurrence was not affected by BRAF or LT, with pooled ORs of 1.12 (95% CI: 0.66-1.90, p = 0.67) and 0.60 (95% CI: 0.28-1.30, p = 0.20) respectively. Similar results were seen with recurrence expressed as hazard ratio in this limited data-set. Conclusion: The odds of PTC-BRAF are significantly lower in the presence of LT than without. PTC with LT, irrespective of BRAF status, was significantly associated with better prognostic factors. Further studies are required to evaluate if LT inhibits PTC-BRAF, and whether this is relevant to the role of immunotherapy in advanced thyroid cancer.