Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Features of papillary thyroid carcinoma in patients older than 75 years

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Updates in Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis in elderly patients affected by papillary thyroid carcinoma. A retrospective review was conducted on 1,407 patients operated on for papillary thyroid carcinoma at our Department from 1990 to 2007. We analyzed the frequency, the stage, the treatment, the recurrence and the survival in a group of patients aged 75 years or more when compared with a group of patients younger. Among 1,407 patients affected by papillary thyroid carcinoma, 117 (8.3%) were older than 75 years while 1,290 (91.7%) patients were younger. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in frequency of papillary histotype and type of surgery. In the older group, the incidence of anaplastic cancer was higher, p < 0.001. The rate of IV stage was 3.8% in younger versus 15.4% in older patients, p < 0.001. The incidence of recurrence was 6.1% versus 17.9%, p < 0.001, in young and elderly patients, respectively. At a mean follow-up of 8.7 years (range 2–19 years) the overall 10 and 15-year survival in younger patients was 91.3 and 88.7%, while in the older group was 71.8 and 63.9%, respectively. The Kaplan–Meier curve showed a statistically significant difference of survival rate in the two groups (p < 0.0001). Although papillary thyroid cancer is widely considered a lymph-tropic tumor, it seems to have a stronger attitude to distant metastases in elderly patients with a worse prognosis due to a more advanced stage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Toniato A, Merante-Boschin I, Casara D et al (2008) Papillary thyroid carcinoma: factors influencing recurrence and survival. Ann Surg Oncol 15(5):1518–1522

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sipos JA, Mazzaferri LM (2008) The therapeutic management of differentiated thyroid cancer. Expert Opin Pharmacother 9(15):1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Mazzaferri EL, Massoll N (2002) Management of papillary and follicular (differentiated) thyroid cancer: new paradigms using recombinant human thyrotropin. Endocr Relat Cancer 9:227–247

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pelizzo MR, Merante-Boschin I, Toniato A et al (2008) Diagnosis, treatment, prognostic factors and long-term outcome in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Min Endocrinol 33:359–379

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Bilimoria KY, Bentrem DJ, Clifford Y et al (2007) Extent of surgery affects survival for papillary thyroid cancer. Ann Surg 246(3):375–384

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Biliotti GC, Martini F, Vezzosi V et al (2006) Specific features of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in patients over 70 years of age. J Surg Oncol 93:194–198

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ito Y, Miyauchi A, Jikuzono T et al (2007) Risk factors contributing to a poor prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma. World J Surg 31:838–848

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Leboullex S, Rubino C, Budin E et al (2005) Prognostic factors for persistent or recurrent disease of papillary thyroid carcinoma with neck lymph node metastases and/or tumor extension beyond the thyroid capsule at initial diagnosis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 90:5723–5729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kjellman P, Zedenius J, Lundell G et al (2006) Predictors of outcome in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Eur J Surg Oncol 32:345–352

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Antonelli A, Fallahi P, Ferrari S et al (2008) Differentiated thyroid cancer: a therapeutic challenge. Biomed Pharmacother 62:559–563

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Miccoli P, Minuto MN, Ugolini C et al (2008) Papillary thyroid cancer: pathological parameters as prognostic factors in different classes of age. Otolanryngol Head and Neck Surg 138:200–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Del Rio P, Sommaruga L, Bezer L et al (2009) Thyroidectomy for differentiated carcinoma in older patients on a short stay basis. Acta Biomed 80:65–68

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Seybt MW, Khichi S, Terris DJ (2009) Geriatric thyroidectomy: safety of thyroid surgery in an aging population. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 135:1041–1044

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Sosa JA, Bowman HM, Tielsch JM et al (1998) The importance of surgeon experience for clinical and economic outcomes from thyroidectomy. Ann Surg 228:320–330

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Toniato A, Boschin IM, Piotto A et al (2008) Complications in thyroid surgery for carcinoma: one institution’s surgical experience. World J Surg 32:572–575

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Mekel M, Stephen AE, Gaz RD, et al (2009) Thyroid surgery in octogenarians in associated with higher complication rates. Surgery 146:913–921

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vini L, Hyer SL, Marshall J et al (2003) Long term results in elderly patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Cancer 97:2736–2742

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hay ID, Thompson GB, Grant CS et al (2002) Clinic during six decades (1940–1999): temporal trends in initial therapy and long term outcome in 2444 consecutively treated patients. World J Surg 26:879–885

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Sobin LH, Wittekind C (2002) UICC TNM classification of malignant tumors, 6th edn. Wiley, New York

Download references

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Surgical Pathology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128, Padua, Italy

    Antonio Toniato, Chiara Bernardi, Andrea Piotto & Maria Rosa Pelizzo

  2. Nuclear Medicine, Istituto Oncologico Veneto (IOV), Rovigo, Italy

    Domenico Rubello

Authors
  1. Antonio Toniato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chiara Bernardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Piotto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Domenico Rubello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Maria Rosa Pelizzo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Toniato.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Toniato, A., Bernardi, C., Piotto, A. et al. Features of papillary thyroid carcinoma in patients older than 75 years. Updates Surg 63, 115–118 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13304-011-0060-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13304-011-0060-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation