Journal List > Korean J Endocr Surg > v.16(4) > 1060173

Lee, Jun, Kim, Kim, and Heo: Clinical Analysis of Elderly Thyroid Cancer Patients Following Thyroidectomy

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyzes the clinical characteristics of thyroid cancer patients over 70 years of age following thyroidectomy. We identified the differences among previous studies and investigated the significance of thyroidectomy for elderly thyroid cancer patients.

Methods

Information was abstracted from the charts of fifty-six patients treated during the period of Jan. 1995 to Dec. 2015. The abstraction included gender, age, surgical method, location with size of the main lesion, extent of lymph node metastasis, pathological features, gene mutation, complication, stage and most recent visit.

Results

Our study showed a frequent occurrence (96.4% of the study group) of papillary thyroid cancers in elderly patients. There were three cases of postoperative complications. None had recurrence, and there was only one death due to complications of pneumonia. There were 11 advanced cases of cancer stage IV.

Conclusion

Previous studies show that postoperative prognosis of elderly thyroid cancer patients is favorable. Average life expectancy is rising in South Korea, and therefore, the number of elderly thyroid cancer patients is increasing. Our study is meaningful in that it confirms the results of previous studies by surveying elderly patients over a 20 year period. It is deemed necessary that thyroidectomy be performed on elderly patients.

References

1. Kweon SS, Shin MH, Chung IJ, Kim YJ, Choi JS. Thyroid cancer is the most common cancer in women, based on the data from population-based cancer registries, South Korea. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2013; 43:1039–46.
crossref
2. Park SH, Lee B, Lee S, Choi E, Choi EB, Yoo J, et al. A qualitative study of women's views on overdiagnosis and screening for thyroid cancer in Korea. BMC Cancer. 2015; 15:858.
crossref
3. Korean Surgical Society. Textbook of surgery. Seoul: Koonja;2011. p. 980–1004.
4. Vini L, Hyer SL, Marshall J, A'Hern R, Harmer C. Long-term results in elderly patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Cancer. 2003; 97:2736–42.
crossref
5. Santangelo G, Del Giudice S, Gallucci F, Parmeggiani U, De Falco M. Cancer of the thyroid gland in geriatric age: a single center retrospective study with a 10-year post-operative follow-up. Int J Surg. 2014; 12(Suppl 2):S103–7.
crossref
6. Nguyen QT, Lee EJ, Huang MG, Park YI, Khullar A, Plodkowski RA. Diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid cancer. Am Health Drug Benefits. 2015; 8:30–40.
7. Raffaelli M, Bellantone R, Princi P, De Crea C, Rossi ED, Fadda G, et al. Surgical treatment of thyroid diseases in elderly patients. Am J Surg. 2010; 200:467–72.
crossref
8. Goldman L, Caldera DL, Nussbaum SR, Southwick FS, Krogstad D, Murray B, et al. Multifactorial index of cardiac risk in non-cardiac surgical procedures. N Engl J Med. 1977; 297:845–50.
crossref
9. Kim E, Choi JY, Lee KE. Management of thyroid nodules and cancers arising in the elderly. J Korean Thyroid Assoc. 2012; 5:99–103.
crossref
10. Park HS, Jung CK, Lee SH, Chae BJ, Lim DJ, Park WC, et al. Clinicopathologic characteristics and surgical outcomes of elderly patients with thyroid cancer. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2014; 44:1045–51.
crossref
11. Marvin K, Parham K. Differentiated thyroid cancer in people aged 85 and older. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2015; 63:932–7.
crossref
12. Cho BY, Choi HS, Park YJ, Lim JA, Ahn HY, Lee EK, et al. Changes in the clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of thyroid cancer in Korea over the past four decades. Thyroid. 2013; 23:797–804.
crossref
13. Lee SH, Kim TY, Ryu JS, Gong G, Kim WB, Kim SC, et al. Trends analysis of characteristics of thyroid cancer patients in one medical center. J Korean Endocr Soc. 2008; 23:35–43.
crossref
14. Chow SM, Law SC, Au SK, Mang O, Yau S, Yuen KT, et al. Changes in clinical presentation, management and outcome in 1348 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma: experience in a single institute in Hong Kong, 1960–2000. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2003; 15:329–36.
crossref
15. Howlander N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, Neyman N, Aminou R, Waldron W, et al. SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2008. Bethesda: National Cancer Institute;2008.
16. Elisei R, Molinaro E, Agate L, Bottici V, Masserini L, Ceccarelli C, et al. Are the clinical and pathological features of differentiated thyroid carcinoma really changed over the last 35 years? Study on 4187 patients from a single Italian institution to answer this question. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010; 95:1516–27.
crossref
17. Kim WB. A closer look at papillary thyroid carcinoma. Endocrinol Metab (Seoul). 2015; 30:1–6.
crossref
18. Xing M, Alzahrani AS, Carson KA, Shong YK, Kim TY, Viola D, et al. Association between BRAF V600E mutation and recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2015; 33:42–50.
crossref
19. Calò PG, Medas F, Loi G, Erdas E, Pisano G, Nicolosi A. Differentiated thyroid cancer in the elderly: our experience. Int J Surg. 2014; 12(Suppl 2):S140–3.
crossref
20. Tartaglia F, Russo G, Sgueglia M, Blasi S, Tortorelli G, Tromba L, et al. Total thyroidectomy in geriatric patients: a retrospective study. Int J Surg. 2014; 12(Suppl 2):S33–6.
crossref

Table 1.
Clinicopathologic data of old patients who underwent thyroidectomy (n=56)
Characteristics Current study (n=56, Age over 70) Calò (Italy) (19) (n=101, Age over 65) Marvin (USA) (11) (n=301, Age over 85)
Sex (M/F) 11/45 (1:4.1) 21/80 (1:3.8)
Age (Mean±SD) 72.9±2.6 71.3±5.3
Operation      
 Total thyroidectomy 32 (62%) 101 (100%) 100 (33%)
 Hemithyroidectomy 21 (38%) 0 (0%) 197 (65%)
Size      
 ≤1 cm 20 (43%) 58 (19%)
 >1 cm 36 (57%) 243 (81%)
Cell type      
 Papillary 54 (96.4%) 37 (36.6%)
 Follicular 1 (1.7%) 10 (9.9%)
 Anaplastic 1 (1.7%) 1 (0.9%)
LN metastasis 11 (20%) 7 (6.9%)
Capsular invasion 31 (55%) 36 (35.6%) 132 (31%)
Adjacent organ invasion      
 Perithyroidal soft tissue 20 (35%)
 Recurrent laryngeal nerve 4 (7%)
 Trachea 2 (3.5%)
 Esophagus 1 (1.7%)
Stage      
 I 22 (39.2%)
 III 23 (61.8%)
 IV 11 (19.6%)

SD = standard deviation; LN = lymph node.

Table 2.
Complication rates of thyroidectomy in old patients (n=56)
Characteristics Current study (n=56, Age over 70) Raffaelli (Italy) (7) (n=101, Age over 70) Calò (Italy) (19) (n=101, Age over 65) Tartaglia (Italy) ((n=448, Age over
Complications 3 (5.1%) 4%
 Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury 2 (3.4%) 2.4% 2% 4 (0.89%)
 Bleeding 1 (1.7%) 0.6% 5.9% 15 (3.34%)
Perioperative mortality 1 (1.7%) 0 (0%)
Total mortality 14 (25%) 11 (2.45%)
Table 3.
Comparisons of clinicopathologic characteristics & recurrence rates between the current study and previous ones
Characteristics Current study Cho (12) Lee (13) Chow (14) Howlander (15) Elisei (16)
No. of subjects 56 2,900 4,646 733 2,400 2,972
Sex (Female %) 80.3% 82% 86.5% 80% 73% 74.8%
Age 72.9±2.6 49±12 47±16 46 (median) 43±14
Size 1.6±1.4 1.4±1.2 2.5 cm (average)
 <2 cm 73% 30.5% 75.6%
 2∼4 cm 21% 40.2% 20.1%
 >4 cm 6% 29.3% 4.3%
PTMC* 43% 43.1% 21.7% 28.7%
Papillary carcinoma 96.4% 91.5% 90.8% 88% 88% 91%
Follicular carcinoma 1.7% 7.3% 4.9% 12% 9% 9%
Invasion            
 LN metastasis 20% 44.4% 24.8% 25% 22.4%
 Extrathyroidal extension 35% 54.8% 42.7% 18.3%
Recurrence 0% 7.6% 14.1%  

LN = lymph node.

* Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

TOOLS
Similar articles