Central cervical lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid cancer: a systematic review of imaging-guided and prophylactic removal of the central compartment

Background Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is a common endocrine cancer and commonly presents with lymph node (LN) metastases. The role of surgical removal of the central cervical LN compartment is poorly defined. There are no prospective randomized controlled trials addressing the relevance to the extent of the initial surgical approach.