A retrospective analysis of thyroid cancer

We reviewed the results of 2071 thyroidectomies performed during the past 11 years at Uludağ University School of Medicine Hospital. Of all the patients 1602 (77.4%) were women and 469 (22.6%) were men (F:M = 3.4:1). Seventy-eight of the thyroid surgery patients (3.77%) had thyroid carcinoma, with a female to male ratio of 2.0:1. The relative risk of thyroid cancer in male versus female patients with thyroid nodules was determined to be 1.75:1. Patient distribution by thyroid carcinoma type was: papillary carcinoma 49%, follicular carcinoma 24%, undifferentiated carcinoma 10%, metastatic carcinoma 10%, and medullary carcinoma 6%. Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been used routinely in our hospital for the last 4 years. During this period, the average number of operations decreased from 201 to 130 per year and the surgical diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma increased from 2.85 to 7.65%. We conclude that papillary carcinoma is relatively less prevalent in our population and that fine needle aspiration biopsy is the preferred method of diagnosing nodular thyroid disease.