J Korean Surg Soc.  2012 Nov;83(5):259-266. 10.4174/jkss.2012.83.5.259.

Age and prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma: retrospective stratification into three groups

• Cho JS
• Yoon JH
• Park MH
• Shin SH
• Jegal YJ
• Lee JS
• Kim HK

• KMID: 2145002
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4174/jkss.2012.83.5.259

Abstract

PURPOSE
We investigated the prognosis according to age in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients.
METHODS
We retrospectively evaluated 2,890 patients who underwent thyroidectomy due to PTC between May 2004 and Aug 2008. We divided patients into 3 groups: young (< or =35 years old), middle (between 35 and 54 years old), and old (> or =55 years old).
RESULTS
Median age was 47.0 years old (range, 15 to 82 years). Within a follow-up period median of 50 months, there were 148 (5.1%) locoregional recurrences, 6 (0.2%) PTC-related deaths, and 18 (0.6%) PTC-unrelated deaths. Outcomes were more favorable in the young group, with no PTC-related death despite the frequent locoregional recurrence. In the old group compared to the middle, there was a higher proportion of male, and more aggressive types as T3 or N1b, higher mean tumor number, more multiplicity, and bilaterality. The old group of > or =55 years did not show a significant difference in PTC-related deaths than other age groups in Cox analysis (OR, 0.9; P = 0.677), but a significant cutoff age in PTC-related deaths at 62.5 years was determined in ROC analysis (area under curve = 0.912).
CONCLUSION
We showed that the < or =35 years group shows favorable prognosis despite the frequent locoregional recurrence and > or =62.5 years group shows a poor prognosis regardless of other factors such as male sex or tumor aggressiveness. Further multiinstitutional studies are needed to elucidate the prognosis according to patient's age.

Keyword

Age; Prognosis; Papillary thyroid carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma
Factor IX
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Prognosis
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
ROC Curve
Thyroid Gland
Thyroid Neoplasms
Thyroidectomy
Carcinoma
Factor IX
Thyroid Neoplasms

Figure

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  Fig. 1 (A) Age distribution of enrolled patients. (B) 148 (5.1%) locoregional recurrences. (C) 6 (0.2%) papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) related death.

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  Fig. 2 Kaplan-Meier curves for locoregional recurrence (A) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) related death (B) according to young, middle, and old age group (log rank test).

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  Fig. 3 Area under the receiver (AUC) operating characteristic curve for Age on locoregional recurrence (A), papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) related death (B), and PTC unrelated death (C).

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