[Surgery and follow-up 131I therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma in the south-east of the...

In a previous study using data from the regional cancer registry of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre South, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, we concluded that in the majority of cases surgical treatment was in accordance with the consensus recommendations, but that about 40% of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer from a number of regional hospitals had not been referred for 131I therapy. However, in a subsequent study using patient data from these hospitals, it became clear that almost all patients had in fact been referred for therapy but to centres outside the 131I therapy region. The conclusion of the study should therefore be altered: the great majority of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer in the south-east of The Netherlands (1983-96) were referred for 131I treatment and therefore the primary surgical and the follow-up treatment complied with the 1987 consensus guidelines.