Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2014) 35 P1134 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.35.P1134

ECE2014 Poster Presentations Thyroid Cancer (70 abstracts)

Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: focus on prevalence, characterization and follow-up during a 10 years time period

Maria Teresa Pereira 1 , André Carvalho 1 , Susana Garrido 1 , Ana Rita Caldas 1 , Cláudia Freitas 1 , Sofia Teixeira 1 , Vitor Valente 2 , António Canha 2 , Moreira Costa 2 , Paulo Bateira 3 & Fátima Borges 1


1Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Porto, Portugal; 2Department of Surgery, Porto, Portugal; 3Department of Pathology, Porto, Portugal.


Introduction: Recent studies point to an ever increasing papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) prevalence, with a percentage range between 20 and 43% of all differentiated thyroid carcinomas. It is many times considered an ‘incidental’ finding and its clinical behaviour is uncertain.

Aims: To characterize a cohort of patients with PTMC, with reference to clinical and pathological variables and outcome.

Methods: Data from patients with histopathologic diagnosis of PTMC during a 10 years time frame (between Jan-2003 and Oct-2013) were retrospectively reviewed. PTMC prevalence, clinical and histological features were retrieved and final outcome assessed at maximum 10 years follow-up.

Results: Two hundred and sixteen patients, mainly female (85.2%), with a median age of 57-year-old (19–84, min–max), were identified with PTMC. Its prevalence, in respect to the total of thyroid cancers diagnosed in the last 10 years, was 40.1% (n=538). Only 17% had cytological diagnosis of papillary carcinoma preoperatively. Eighty percent of the PTMC were found in surgical specimens of total thyroidectomy and PTMC median size was 5mm, being the classical variant the most common one (79%). It was confirmed tumor extraglandular extension and multicentricity in, respectively, 10 and 29% of cases, with histologically confirmed local lymph node involvement in eight cases (3.7%) and distant metastasis in one case. The median follow-up time of all the sample was 3.5 years. Two patients (1%) presented relapse with histologically confirmed cervical lymph node metastasis, both with <4 years of follow-up. There were no deaths attributed to thyroid cancer during this period.

Conclusion: In this 10-year study, most of the diagnosed PTMC were incidentally found in benign thyroid disease. The relatively uneventful course of PTMC during this time may justify a less intense follow-up.

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