Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Children in the Last 20 Years: A Regional Study in Romania

Abstract

Pediatric thyroid carcinoma is a current area of interest, because there are few studies in this field; the current classification and treatment guidelines are extrapolated from adults, sometimes leading to overly aggressive treatments or incomplete treatment of the disease. The purpose of this retrospective study is to analyze the presentation, diagnosis, treatment, complications, and outcome of children diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the last two decades (2000–2018) at the Oncological Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță” Cluj-Napoca (IOCN) Romania, a tertiary center in a region with environmental influences from both the nuclear fallout of the Chernobyl accident and from iodine deficiency. The results were compared with those obtained in a previous study carried out in the same institution between 1991–2010, and with those obtained in a similar study carried out in Netherlands between 1970–2013, a cohort of children not exposed to the post-Chernobyl fallout. We statistically analyzed 62 patients. Papillary form was present in the majority of cases, and we highlighted the occurrence of thyroid microcarcinoma in children. A total of 85.4% of patients received radioiodine, the total activity being significantly lower compared with the data from literature. In our study, the prognosis of the disease was excellent, with 100% overall survival.

Tumor size is an independent negative prognostic factor for event free survival in children with differentiated thyroid cancer

“…This is consistent with several previous studies ( 8 , 12 , 22 – 25 ). Despite the presence of advanced disease in children with DTC in this cohort, long-term prognosis was excellent and 10 years overall survival was 98.4%, which is also in line with previous reports on pediatric DTC from different ethnicities ( 8 , 13 , 24 , 26 , 27 ).…”

Updated Incidence of Thyroid Cancer in the North East Region of Romania after 35 Years of Chernobyl Fallout. Is There a Link between?

“…Children included in this study were born after 1986. The study found that thyroid carcinoma had a peak at ages of 10-13 years old after the nuclear accident [23].…”

Role of Dietary and Environmental Factors on Thyroid Cancer in Romania: A Brief Review

“…Stefan et al [ 11 ] noted that the majority of affected children with TC were born mostly after the Chernobyl disaster, with many cases recorded among children born in 1996, 1999 and 2000, respectively, at 10, 13 and 14 years after the accident.…”