Endocrine Abstracts

JOINT2712

Introduction: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine cancer. The aim of the study was to assess the clinical and paraclinical characteristics of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in order to determine its epidemiology in Algeria.

Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective epidemiological study of differentiated thyroid cancer, evaluating the period from January 1, 2019 to the end of 2023. We collected data from the patient files of the endocrinology department of the EPH Ibn Ziri de Bologhine in Algiers.

Results: 1275 patients were included. The incidence rates of differentiated thyroid cancer during the five-year study period (2019-2020-2021- 2022-2023) were 2.78%, 4.88%, 3.36%, 6.36%, and 6.12%, respectively. The mean age of our patients was 42.79 ± 12 years. There was a clear female predominance with 84% women and 16% men, i.e. a F/M sex ratio of 5. The predominant age group was between the third and fifth decades. A family history of goiter was found in 21.18% of cases and of thyroid cancer in 7.37%, while 71.4% of patients had no history of thyroid cancer. No history of childhood thyroid irradiation was found. 43.06% of our patients consulted for thyroid nodule, 25.88% for multinodular goiter, 23.53% for cervical adenopathy and 1.96% for distant metastasis, although the finding was incidental in 5.57% of the cases. Total thyroidectomy was the initial treatment in all patients. The diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer was based on anatomopathologic examination of the surgical specimen, 79.14% of cases being papillary carcinoma and 20.86% being vesicular carcinoma. 20.91% of papillary carcinomas were microcarcinomas. 36.24% of the patients had tumors smaller than 1 cm, 28% between 1 and 2 cm, 18.90% between 2 and 4 cm and 16.86% larger than 4 cm. All patients received irradiation and thyroid hormone therapy. Close and regular follow-up allowed the detection of lymph node metastases in 23.22% of patients by anatomopathologic examination, while distant bone and lung metastases were observed in only 2.51% and 1.57% of patients, respectively.

Conclusions: Establishing the epidemiological profile of differentiated thyroid cancer contributes to better patient management and can help identify the risk factors and etiology of the disease. Collaboration between different departments (consultation, radiology, molecular biology and surgery) is needed to optimize patient management in Algeria.