Spatial Transcriptomics in Thyroid Cancer: A PRISMA-Style Systematic Review of Platforms, Architecture, and Clinical Applications

Background/Objectives: Thyroid cancer spans indolent differentiated tumors to lethal poorly differentiated and anaplastic carcinomas, and histopathology and molecular testing do not capture the spatial organization of tumor, stromal, and immune compartments that underlies invasion, dedifferentiation, and treatment resistance. Spatial transcriptomics profiles gene expression in situ. We systematically reviewed its platforms, applications, and findings in thyroid cancer.

Methods

PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched, following PRISMA 2020 guidance and supplemented by citation chasing, for English-language primary studies applying spatially resolved transcriptomics to thyroid cancer tissue. Subtype, platform, complementary methods, and principal findings were extracted, and each study was appraised item by item with the design-matched Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist.