Abstract
A total 847 consecutive patients with Graves' disease who underwent thyroidectomy between 1965 and 1990 were found to have a 4.3% incidence of coincident carcinoma of the thyroid. In 68.2% of these cases the tumors were less than 1 cm in diameter and were detected in only 7 patients (19.4%) prior to surgery. Dissection of the regional lymph nodes was necessary in only 11 patients. A review of the patients in 1990 revealed no carcinoma-related deaths with metastases occurring most commonly in the patients with larger tumors and in those whose cancer had been detected prior to thyroidectomy. Although the detection of potential tumors occurring with Graves' disease using preoperative echogram may be of interest, our results suggest that occult micro-carcinoma occurring coincidentally with Graves' disease is not clinically significant as it did not cause any recurrence in this study. Moreover, there was no evidence to suggest that Graves' disease was associated with the increased or rapid growth of these tumors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Olen E, Klinck GH (1966) Hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. Arch Path 81:531–535
Shapiro SJ, Friedman NB, Perzik SL, Catz B (1970) Incidence of thyroid carcinoma in Graves' disease. Cancer 26:1261–1270
Hancock BW, Bing RF, Dirmikis SM, Munro DS, Neal FE (1977) Thyroid carcinoma and concurrent hyperthyroidism. Cancer 39:298–302
Farbota LM, Calandra DB, Lawrence AM, Poloyan E (1985) Thyroid carcinoma in Graves' disease. Surgery 98:1148–1153
Behar R, Arganini M, Wu TC, McCormick M, Straus FH, DeGroot LJ, Kaplan EL (1986) Graves' disease and thyroid cancer. Surgery 100:1121–1127
Pacini F, Elisei R, Di Coscio GC, Anelli S, Macchia E, Concetti R, Miccoli P, Arganini M, Pinchera A (1988) Thyroid carcinoma in thyrotoxic patients treated by surgery. J Endocrinol Invest 11:107–112
Belfiore A, Garofalo MR, Giuffrida D, Runello F, Filetti S, Fiumara A, Ippolito O, Vigneri R (1990) Increased aggressiveness of thyroid cancer in patients with Graves' disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 70:830–835
Makiuchi M, Miyakawa M, Sugenoya A, Furihata R (1981) An evaluation of several prognostic factors in the surgical treatment for thyrotoxicosis. Surg Gynecol Obstet 152:639–641
Kasuga Y, Sugenoya A, Kobayashi S, Kaneko G, Masuda H, Fujimori M, Iida F (1990) Clinical evaluation of the response to surgical treatment of Graves' disease. Surg Gynecol Obstet 170:327–330
Maruchi N, Furihata R, Makiuchi M (1971) Population surveys on the prevalence of thyroid cancer in a non-endemic region, Nagano, Japan. Int J Cancer 7:575–583
Waterhouse J, Muir C, Correa P, Powell J (1976) Cancer incidence in five countries, vol. 3. IARC Scientific Publications, Lyon, pp 268–279
Filetti SF, Belfiore A, Amir SM, Daniels GH, Ippolito O, Vigneri R, Ingbar SH (1988) The role of thyroid-stimulating antibody of Graves' disease in differentiated thyroid cancer. N Engl J Med 318:753–759
Hedinger CHR (1988) Histological typing of thyroid tumours. 2nd edn. Springer-Verlag, Tokyo
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kasuga, Y., Sugenoya, A., Kobayashi, S. et al. The outcome of patients with thyroid carcinoma and graves' disease. Surg Today 23, 9–12 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00308993
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00308993