Bone metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinoma: heterogenous tumor response to radioactive Iodine therapy and overall survival.

Purpose: Bone metastases (BM) from differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) impact negatively the quality of life and the life expectancy of patients. The aim of the study was (a) to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and prognostic factors of OS and (b) to assess predictive factors of complete BM response (C-BM-R) using radioiodine treatment (RAI) either alone or in association with focal treatment modalities.

Methods: A total of 178 consecutive DTC patients harbouring BM, treated between 1989 and 2015, were enrolled in this retrospective study conducted in two tertiary referral centers.