Thyroid cancer in children and adolescents in Denmark

From 1960 to 1985, 20 patients (12 females and eight males) with thyroid cancer, developed before the age of 20, have been registered and observed at the Radium Center, The Finsen Institute. Papillary adenocarcinoma was diagnosed in 11 cases, and mixed papillary/follicular adenocarcinoma in six cases. Three patients had medullary carcinoma. No patients had previously received cervical irradiation. On admission, lung metastases were evident in two cases. All patients underwent surgical treatment, which in 15 cases consisted of total thyroidectomy, and in nine also lymph node dissection. External irradiation was given to 10 patients, and radioiodine treatment was performed in five patients. Local and/or distant relapse of the thyroid carcinoma occurred in five cases: three were patients with medullary carcinoma, and two had papillary and mixed adenocarcinoma. The three patients with medullary carcinoma died of their disease, but the other two with recurrence recovered after surgery, external irradiation and/or radioiodine treatment. Currently, 16 patients are alive without evidence of disease. The period of follow-up ranged from 2 to 23 years.