Thyroid cancer in West Java: It's not all papillary and pretty

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Oncology
• Pathology

Background:

• Thyroid cancer incidence is rising globally, necessitating research into its characteristics and impact.
• Understanding thyroid cancer trends is crucial for assessing potential increases in mortality and disease aggressiveness.
• This study focuses on thyroid cancer demographics and clinical features within West Java, Indonesia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize thyroid tumors diagnosed at a major West Java hospital.
• To investigate associations between various thyroid cancer characteristics.
• To provide data that can inform diagnostic and treatment strategies for thyroid cancer.

Main Methods:

• An observational study design was employed.
• Data were collected from 3414 patients with thyroid tumors treated between January 2017 and December 2022.
• Patient medical records were reviewed for tumor characteristics.

Main Results:

• The average participant age was 47 years, with women comprising 82.9% of cases.
• Thyroid tumors were most often located on the right side (38.6%), and over 90% showed no lymph node metastasis.
• Significant associations were found between tumor histology and patient sex, location, size, and nodal status, with higher metastatic rates in papillary and medullary carcinomas.

Conclusions:

• Papillary thyroid carcinoma is prevalent, with significant links between histopathology, sex, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis.
• Risk-based fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and selective surgical referral are recommended to identify and manage low-risk microcarcinomas.
• Implementing these strategies can help reduce overdiagnosis and unnecessary surgical interventions for thyroid cancer.