Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39921476›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2025

Machine Learning: A Multicenter Study on Predicting Lateral Lymph Node Metastasis in cN0 Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Jing Zhou, Daxue Li, Jiahui Ren, Chun Huang, Shiying Yang, Mingyao Chen, Zhaoyu Wan, Jinhang He, Yuchen Zhuang, Song Xue and 2 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Jing ZhouDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.ORCID 0000-0002-5133-740X
Daxue LiDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Jiahui RenDepartment of Breast and Thyroid, Women and Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University: Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Chongqing 401120, China.
Chun HuangDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Shiying YangDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Mingyao ChenDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Zhaoyu WanDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Jinhang HeDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.
Yuchen ZhuangDepartment of Breast and Thyroid, Women and Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University: Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Chongqing 401120, China.
Song XueIntelligent Integrated Circuits and Systems Laboratory, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611730, China.
Lin ChunDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, Guangyuan Central Hospital, Gungyuan 628017, China.ORCID 0009-0002-6569-8211
Xinliang SuDepartment of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 40016, China.ORCID 0000-0001-5792-1407

Funding

Bethune Charitable Foundation Z04J2024E107-B-09.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe necessity of prophylactic lateral neck dissection for cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains debated. This study aimed to compare traditional nomograms with machine learning (ML) models for predicting ipsilateral lateral and level II, III, and IV lymph node metastasis (LNM).

methodsData from 1616 PTC patients diagnosed via fine-needle aspiration biopsy from hospital A were split into training and testing sets (7:3). Two hundred forty-three patients from hospital B served as a validation set. Four dependent variables-ipsilateral lateral and level II, III, and IV LNM-were analyzed. Eight ML models [logistic regression, decision tree, random forest (RF), gradient boosting, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor, Gaussian naive Bayes, neural networks] were developed and validated using 10-fold cross-validation and grid search hyperparameter tuning. Models were assessed using 11 metrics including accuracy, area under the curve (AUC), specificity, and sensitivity. The best was compared with nomograms using the probability-based ranking model approach (PMRA).

resultsRF outperformed other approaches achieving accuracy, AUC, specificity, and sensitivity of 0.773/0.728, 0.858/0.799, 0.984/0.935, 0.757/0.807 in the testing/validation sets, respectively, for ipsilateral LLNM. A streamlined model based on the top 10 contributing features that includes ipsilateral central lymph node metastasis rate, extrathyroidal extension, and ipsilateral central lymph node metastasis number retained strong performance and clearly surpassed a traditional nomogram approach based on multiple metrics and PMRA analysis. Similar results were obtained for the other dependent variables, with the RF models relying on distinct but overlapping sets of features. Clinical tool implementation is facilitated via a web-based calculator for each of the 4 dependent variables.

conclusionML, especially RF, reliably predicts lateral LNM in cN0 PTC patients, outperforming traditional nomograms.

Indexed as

Lymphatic MetastasisLymph NodesMachine LearningThyroid Cancer, PapillaryThyroid NeoplasmsAdultAgedBiopsy, Fine-NeedleFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeck DissectionNomogramsYoung Adultclinical lymph node-NegativecN0lateral lymph node metastasisLLNMmachine learningMLpapillary thyroid carcinomaprediction modelPTC

Identifiers

PMID39921476
PMCPMC12448597

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.