Research report: Prognostic significance of systemic inflammatory and peripheral immune profiles in differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study

A retrospective cohort study of 430 patients with surgically treated differentiated thyroid carcinoma found that elevated systemic immune-inflammation index, thyroglobulin and thyroglobulin antibody levels, together with a higher proportion of circulating CD8-positive T cells, were independently associated with inferior overall survival. The findings indicate that blood-based inflammatory, thyroid-related and immune-cell measurements may provide prognostic information alongside existing clinicopathological risk factors. The investigators analyzed patients with pathologically confirmed differentiated thyroid carcinoma who underwent surgical resection.

They assessed preoperative inflammatory markers, thyroid-related biomarkers and peripheral immune-cell profiles, then examined their associations with overall survival using Kaplan–Meier analyses and Cox proportional hazards regression. Patients with carcinoma had significantly higher systemic immune-inflammation index, or SII, thyroglobulin, or Tg, and thyroglobulin antibody, or TgAb, levels than healthy controls and patients with benign thyroid nodules, with all reported comparisons yielding P values below 0.001. Higher SII, Tg and TgAb levels were also associated with lymph-node metastasis and distant metastasis.

In multivariable Cox regression, the variables independently associated with inferior overall survival were older age, follicular thyroid carcinoma, lymph-node metastasis, distant metastasis, elevated SII, increased Tg and TgAb levels, and a higher CD8-positive T-cell proportion. These were statistical associations in a retrospective cohort, not evidence that any biomarker caused the outcome or would improve survival if used to guide treatment. The peripheral immune profile added further survival information.

Kaplan–Meier analyses showed that higher proportions of CD3-positive, CD4-positive and CD19-positive cells were associated with improved overall survival, while a lower proportion of CD56-positive cells was also associated with better outcomes. The proportion of CD127-positive cells showed no significant association with overall survival. Taken together, the results suggest that different immune-cell measurements did not all have the same relationship with prognosis in this cohort.

The study supports the potential value of combining systemic inflammatory status, thyroid-related biomarkers and peripheral immune profiling in postoperative risk assessment for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The findings therefore establish prognostic associations in the studied cohort rather than demonstrating a clinical benefit from biomarker-guided surveillance or treatment.

Subject of Research: Prognostic blood biomarkers and peripheral immune profiles in surgically treated differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Article Title: Prognostic significance of systemic inflammatory and peripheral immune profiles in differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study

Article References: Zhang, X., Liu, F., Wang, W., Peng, C., & Qin, Y. (2026). Prognostic significance of systemic inflammatory and peripheral immune profiles in differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-026-16883-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12885-026-16883-6

Keywords: differentiated thyroid carcinoma, systemic inflammation, immune-inflammation index, thyroglobulin, peripheral immunity, overall survival, immune-cell profiling, retrospective cohort, cancer metastasis, Prognostic, significance, systemic