Neck dissection for thyroid cancer

Decisions concerning the extent of surgical treatment for thyroid cancer remain controversial. Limited surgical procedures, designed to remove only the cancer that is clinically evident, can be successful since the primary determinants in survival are age, sex, and histologic type rather than number of positive nodes or other factors. A retrospective review of 339 patients who had surgical procedures for cancer of the thyroid at MDA hospital from 1975 to mid-1989 did not show a conclusive advantage for any type of neck dissection. The operations were tailor-made to include all evident clinical cancer. Secondary procedures, such as surgery, radioactive iodine, radiation therapy were successful in treating recurrences, which occurred in all surgical groups, whether limited or radical.