What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to create a preoperative risk classifier to guide surgical decisions in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinomas under 4 cm.

July 12, 2026Open Access

Development of Novel mRNA Classifiers to Stratify Preoperative Thyroid Tumor Risk

Puntos clave

This research aims to create a preoperative risk classifier to guide surgical decisions in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinomas under 4 cm.
In silico study and validation using retrospective cohort data from genomic repositories.
Creation of Clinico‐Transcriptomic groups and differential gene expression analyses.
Consensus clustering applied to fine-needle aspirate data and surgical cohort data.
The POINT classifier indicated BRAF V600E mutations predominantly in the CTR-Low group and high rates of TERT promoter mutations in the CTR-High group.
In the surgical cohort, POINT demonstrated fair agreement with the American Thyroid Association risk group (weighted κ = 0.25) and a negative predictive value of 0.89.
The number needed to treat to avoid one completion thyroidectomy was calculated as 5.3.

Resumen

Abstract Objective Develop a preoperative risk classifier for guiding the extent of surgery in differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs) under 4 cm. Study Design In silico study, validation with retrospective cohort. Setting Genomic data repositories, academic tertiary medical center. Methods Prognostic transcriptional groups and American Thyroid Association (ATA) risk groups in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to create novel Clinico‐TRanscriptomic (CTR) groups. Differential gene expression (DGE) was performed. Consensus clustering was used to assess the reproducibility of genomic and histologic features in: (1) Bethesda V/VI fine‐needle aspirates (FNA) from the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) database (GC cohort); (2) thyroid carcinomas annotated by ATA histopathologic risk group (surgical cohort); (3) independent surgical cohort. Results Within TCGA (n = 451), CTR‐Low was enriched with BRAF V600E mutations. CTR‐Intermediate was enriched in follicular cancers, while CTR‐High had high rates of TERT promoter ( TERT p) and BRAF V600E mutations. A 144 gene classifier (PreOperative INdicator of Thyroid cancer progression POINT) was developed based on inter‐CTR DGEs. Clustering of the GC cohort using POINT demonstrated similar genomic features with 3 groups characterized by BRAF V600E and ALK/NTRK/RET fusions, RAS mutations, or TERT p/ BRAF V600E alterations. Agreement of POINT with ATA risk group in the surgical cohort (n = 129) showed fair agreement (weighted κ = 0.25), NPV 0.89 for ruling out high ATA risk, and NNT 5.3 to avoid 1 completion thyroidectomy. Conclusion The POINT classifier is predictive of genomic alterations and ATA risk in independent data sets. This study advances precision oncology, shifting the paradigm from size‐based toward individualized, biology‐driven care.

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