Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2009 Jul;52(7):599-603. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2009.52.7.599.

Clinical Behavior of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Smaller than 1.5 cm

• Yoo IO
• Chung EJ
• Baek SK
• Jung KY
• Kim SG

• KMID: 2074140
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2009.52.7.599

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
With the increasing use of high resolution sonography and fine needle aspiration biopsy, the proportion of newly diagnosed thyroid papillary carcinomas have increased. However, it is not entirely clear whether microcarcinomas detectable by the above technology the should be considered a threshold for risk evaluation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical behavior of papillary carcinomas smaller than 1.5 cm.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
A retrospective chart review was conducted for 181 patients who underwent surgery for thyroid cancer and was proven to have papillary carcinoma smaller than 1.5 cm in size from 1997 to 2006. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to cancer size. The patient's gender, age, surgical method, pathology, initial neck node and neck recurrence was analyzed by chi-square test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and multinomial logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS
Progressively increasing frequency of signs of tumor aggressiveness (multifocal, bilateral, extracapsular spread) was observed with increasing size. The rate of lymph node metastasis increased also, but it did not reach a significant value. Despite the increasing rate of aggressiveness and lymph node metastasis, there was no significant difference in recurrence between these groups.
CONCLUSION
Although the long term outcome does not seem to directly depend on tumor size in these small thyroid cancers, a progressing frequency of aggressiveness with increasing cancer size at presentation is evident.

Keyword

Thyroid gland; Papillary; Carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Carcinoma
Carcinoma, Papillary
Humans
Logistic Models
Lymph Nodes
Neck
Neoplasm Metastasis
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Thyroid Gland
Thyroid Neoplasms
Carcinoma
Thyroid Neoplasms