Differentiated thyroid cancer: clinical experience in a changing scenario

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is the most common type of endocrine cancer with an incidence that is significantly increasing and with important treatment changes.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze a population of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer treated at the Hospital Universitario Austral, evaluate the outcomes and discuss the new trends in thyroid cancer management.
Material and methods: A series of 344 patients undergoing thyroid surgery between May 2001 and May 2015 were retrospectively reviewed: 331 total thyroidectomies and 13 lobectomies. Central lymph node dissection was performed in 82% of the cases and lateral lymph node dissection in 9%, based on clinical and ultrasound findings. Most patients were women (80%) and 95% were papillary thyroid cancers. According to the TNM classification, 65% were T1, 41% T1a (microcarcinomas) and 87% corresponded to the ATA low risk of recurrence category. Lymph node metastases were present in 34% of the central neck lymph nodes and in all the lateral lymph nodes dissected, and only 1.8% presented distant metastasis. Radioactive iodine was used in 73% of the patients in doses between 30 and 150 mCi.
Results: Overall survival was 99.2% with a mean follow-up of 40.2 months; 0.8% presented permanent hypoparathyroidism and 0.8% of the patients presented permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy.
Conclusions: 1) almost 80% of the patients undergoing surgery corresponded to early stages of the disease with low risk of recurrence; 2) more than 40% were microcarcinomas; 3) the results obtained are similar to those reported by high-volume centers;