Evaluation of the Molecular Landscape of Pediatric Thyroid Nodules and Use of a Multigene Genomic Classifier in Children

IMPORTANCE Definitive diagnosis of a thyroid nodule in a child is obtained through diagnostic surgery. This is problematic because pediatric thyroid surgery is associated with higher rates of complications. In adults, preoperative molecular testing improves the management of thyroid nodules, but this has not been validated in children. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the molecular landscape of pediatric thyroid nodules is amenable to detection by a multigene genomic classifier (GC) test (ThyroSeq v3; Sonic Healthcare USA). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was a retrospective consecutive case series and GC testing of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from sequential pediatric thyroidectomies performed between January 2003 and December 2019 at a single tertiary academic medical center. The study included 95 patients (median [range] age. 16.3 [4.8 to 21.1] years; 75 [79%] female) who underwent surgery for a thyroid nodule. INTERVENTIONS A total of 118 thyroid nodule samples (95 FFPE, 23 companion FNAs) yielded informative next-generation sequencing data and multigene GC. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was the determination of the pediatric thyroid molecular landscape. The secondary outcome was the diagnostic accuracy of the GC test for pediatric thyroid nodules. RESULTS Of the 95 patients, 75 (79%) were female, and the median (IQR) age was 16.3 (14.0-17.3) years. Next-generation sequencing confirmed the unique molecular landscape of malignant pediatric thyroid nodules (compared with adults), which is dominated by gene fusions (most commonly RET and NTRK), rare BRAF/RAS alterations, and no TP53 or TERT promoter pathogenic variants. Several poorly differentiated thyroid cancers harbored DICER? variants. Benign nodules appeared to be almost exclusively associated with TSHR and DICER? alterations. The test demonstrated a 96% sensitivity (95% CI, 87%-99%) and 78% specificity (95% CI, 64%-88%). The negative predictive value was 95% (95% CI, 88%-98%) and the positive predictive value was 83% (95% CI, 74-89%). The concordance of GC between 23 pairs of matched FFPE and FNA tissues was 96%. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The study results of this retrospective consecutive case series suggest that the molecular landscape of pediatric nodules is unique but remains amenable to molecular classification. The multigene GC test, with high sensitivity and reasonably high specificity, represents a potential addition to the diagnostic workup of children with thyroid nodules and may decrease the use of diagnostic surgery.

Automated summary

This study investigates the molecular landscape of pediatric thyroid nodules and finds it to be unique compared to adults. The multigene GC test shows high sensitivity and reasonably high specificity for the diagnosis of pediatric thyroid nodules, and may have the potential to decrease the use of diagnostic surgery.