Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Head and Neck Cancer

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1549646

This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Cancer Imaging Technologies: Bridging the Gap from Research to Clinical Practice View all 14 articles

Retrospective Study from a Single Center to Comparison of Diagnostic Value of Three Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data Systems in Bethesda III/IV Thyroid Nodules

Provisionally accepted
  • Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: To compare the diagnostic value of ACR Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS), K-TIRADS, and C-TIRADS in Bethesda III/IV thyroid nodules.Methods: This single-center retrospective study classified 80 Bethesda stage III/IV thyroid nodules from 80 patients between January 2020 and July 2023 according to three different systems.Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves, with histopathological diagnosis serving as the reference standard.Results: Overall, 41/80 (51.2%) nodules were malignant and 39/80 (48.8%) were benign. The malignancy rates for Bethesda type III and IV nodules were 50.7% and 55.6%, respectively. The malignancy risk in thyroid nodules increased with higher TI-RADS categories (P<0.001). Optimal cutoff values for ACR-, K-, and C-TIRADS were categories 5, 5, and 4C, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) for ACR-, K-, and C-TIRADS was 0.782, 0.767, and 0.842, respectively, with C-TIRADS showing a significantly higher AUC than ACR-TIRADS and K-TIRADS (all P<0.05). C-TIRADS demonstrated the highest sensitivity, accuracy, and positive predictive value, whereas ACR TI-RADS showed the highest specificity and negative predictive value.Furthermore, the AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ACR TI-RADS, K-TIRADS, and C-TIRADS were higher in nodules >1 cm than in those ≤ 1 cm." Conclusion: All three TI-RADS systems have diagnostic value in differentiating benign from malignant Bethesda III/IV nodules, With C-TIRADS showing the highest area under the curve(AUC),suggesting its potential utility in clinical evaluation and management of such nodules,particularly in Chinese populations.

    Keywords: Thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS), Cytological diagnosis, Bethesda III/IV, thyroid nodules, malignancy

    Received: 21 Dec 2024; Accepted: 21 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: 翠明 张, Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

    Research integrity at Frontiers

    Man ultramarathon runner in the mountains he trains at sunset

    94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good

    Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.


    Find out more