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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
An Orthotopic Mouse Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: April 17, 2013
The rate of tumour growth does not distinguish between malignant and benign thyroid nodules
K Asanuma1, S Kobayashi, K Shingu
1Department of Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
Objective:
To clarify whether or not the rate of tumour growth is a useful measure for distinguishing papillary thyroid cancer from benign nodules.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Teaching hospital, Japan.
Subjects:
Fourteen patients with 27 nodules (<20 mm) followed up for 20 months or more.
Interventions:
High resolution ultrasonography (US).
Main Outcome Measure:
Growth rate.
Results:
There were 15 papillary thyroid cancers and 12 benign nodules. The median tumour diameters at the first and the last US examination were 9.0 mm (range 6-19) and 9.0 mm (range 5-21) in papillary thyroid cancers followed up for 37 months (range 21-85), and 11.5 mm (range 4-19) and 11.5 mm (range 5-23) in benign nodules followed up for 38 months (range 20-84), respectively.
Conclusion:
The rate of growth of thyroid nodules as documented by ultrasound did not prove to be useful in distinguishing between malignancy and benign disease of small thyroid nodules (<20 mm).
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