Low-invasive somatic oncogenes and lymph node metastasis in pediatric papillary thyroid cancer: implications for prophylactic central neck dissection.

Pediatric patients with low-invasive somatic oncogenic alterations are at low risk for metastasis to central neck LNs. Our findings suggest that preoperative knowledge of somatic oncogene alterations provides objective data to stratify pediatric patients who may not benefit from pCND.