Treatment of recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents

Mortality for children with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is low (< or = 10%), but recurrence is frequent (20%). In adults, recurrent PTC has a poor prognosis (50% remission) and a high mortality (16-63%). We hypothesized that treatment of recurrent PTC would be more effective in children than in adults. We reviewed the clinical course of 42 children with PTC in remission. Seven (7/42, 17%) recurred and records were available for six. All six received RAI (median = 130 mCi), and one had a cervical node removed. Five of the six (83%) achieved remission (median duration 67 mo, range 10-99 mo), one had a second recurrence and a third remission, and one patient (17%) had persistent disease. There were no deaths. In conclusion, although we had only one child less than 10 years of age in our study, these and previous data suggest that treatment of recurrent PTC in children is generally effective.