Surgery in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a review of 730 patients

Between 1956 and 1978, 1143 patients with thyroid cancer, nearly half of all patients with thyroid carcinomas in Norway in this period, were seen in our hospital. Of 730 papillary cancer patients, 447 were operated with total thyroidectomy (TT), 179 with hemi-thyroidectomy (HT), while 104 patients had minor thyroid resections (RT). Survival and recurrence rates were similar in the TT- and HT-groups. Local recurrences were seen in 15.2% of the patients following total thyroidectomy and in 16.2% following hemi-thyroidectomy; distant metastases were seen in 10.7% and 11.2%, respectively. Beyond the seventh year of follow-up the cumulative survival was similar following total thyroidectomies, hemi-thyroidectomies, and thyroid resections. Unless grossly malignant residues were left behind, the impact of the surgical procedure on prognosis in papillary thyroid cancer seems minor.