[Follicular thyroid cancer. A multivariate analysis]

The prognosis of malignant tumors is determined by a number of factors and their interaction. These factors may be assessed statistically by means of regression models for the hazard rates, which are assumed to be proportional. 89 follicular thyroid cancers from 1952 to 1975 were analysed according to clinical, macropathological and special histological criteria. Those variables which significantly influence the survival function were defined precisely and quantified by multivariate analysis. The age of the patients at the time of diagnosis (primary operation), sex, and local tumor extent (and therefore radical surgery) proved to be prognostically significant. Thus, the TNM system alone is sufficient neither for individual prognostic pronouncements nor for forming risk groups.