Thyroid cancer: Prognosis in 469 patients

Abstract

A computer study of 469patients with thyroid cancer is p.esented. There were 40 per cent anaplastic, 30 per cent papillary, 15 per cent follicular and 15 per cent rarer tumours. The 20-year survival was 7.5 per cent for anaplastic, 55 per cent for papillary and 35 per cent for follicular carcinoma. The ~o m i n a~~ role of histology in prognosis is confirmed.Other important factors are: all patients under 45 reap benefit; females survive longer than males with papillary and follicular tumours. Cervical node metastases confer no depression in papillary tumours. Local tumour advance depresses survival but facilitates diagnosis. We find merit in the T N M classification, but warn against overelaboration.We regret our failure to assess the differential eflect of individual treatment, which poses a continuing challenge to oncologists.ACCURACY in prognosis allows rational management of cancer. For common cancers, such as those of the lung or stomach, it required years of labour to achieve the present degree of knowledge of their behaviour. So much more difficult is it to reach the same level of knowledge about a rare cancer, such as that of the thyroid, with the added difficulty of its many variants. Thus, there is a need for reports on thyroid cancer from as many centres as possible, particularly from hospitals where relatively large numbers are treated and the patients are followed through life. Patients and methods

COX-2 Expression and Tumor Angiogenesis in Thyroid Carcinoma Patients among Northeast Chinese Population-Result of a Single-Center Study

“…The expressions of COX-2 and VEGF in undifferentiated carcinomas and medullary carcinomas were higher than in papillary and follicular carcinoma, and the differences were significant statistically ( P <0.01). It is known that compared with papillary carcinoma the prognosis of undifferentiated carcinoma and medullary carcinoma is worse10. Our data confirm that overexpression of COX-2 correlates with the pathologic type of thyroid carcinoma, and suggest that COX-2 overexpression is associated with a poor prognosis.…”

“…The prognosis of papillary carcinoma being the best, followed by follicular carcinoma and medullary carcinoma9. The prognosis of undifferentiated carcinoma is worst with a high mortality rate10. It is well known that angiogenesis plays an important role in the growth and metastasis of thyroid carcinoma4.…”

Benign and malignant thyroid nodules after neck irradiation

“…In the general population, the female-to-male ratio of differentiated nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma is about 3:1. 22 In a series of nonirradiated thyroid cancer patients treated surgically at this institution, the sex ratio was 4.3:1.23 Our finding of an equal risk for both sexes indicates that risk factors associated with the female sex had been outweighed by factors associated with the radiation treatment. Previous findings of a persistent but reduced female preponderance after radiation therapy may be due to the lower doses in these series.…”

Morphology and prognosis of follicular thyroid carcinoma

“…Ein ungiinstigeres Verhalten dieser Carcinome im h6heren Lebensalter war zuvor bereits von anderen Autoren beschrieben worden [14,16,53], wobei -jeweils mit einem dem hier verwendeten Verfahren/ihnlichen rechnerischen Ansatz -Staunton und Skeet [60] h6chste Signifikanz beim Schwellenalter 45 Jahre, Meybier et al [45] fiir Frauen bei 50 Jahren, ftir M/inner bei 65 Jahren fanden. Ein ungiinstigeres Verhalten dieser Carcinome im h6heren Lebensalter war zuvor bereits von anderen Autoren beschrieben worden [14,16,53], wobei -jeweils mit einem dem hier verwendeten Verfahren/ihnlichen rechnerischen Ansatz -Staunton und Skeet [60] h6chste Signifikanz beim Schwellenalter 45 Jahre, Meybier et al [45] fiir Frauen bei 50 Jahren, ftir M/inner bei 65 Jahren fanden.…”