Differentiated thyroid cancer in a Swedish county – long-term results and quality of life

Figures & data

Table I. Patient characteristics in 130 cases of differentiated thyroid cancer treated with either total thyroidectomy (n=77) or subtotal thyroidecctomy (n=53).

	Total thyroidectomy n=77	Subtotal thyroidectomy n=53	p-value
Sex:
Women	56 (73%)	36 (68%)
Men	21 (27%)	17 (32%)	p = 0.56
Median age (years):	55 (range 17–86)	61 (range 14–88)
Type of cancer:
FTC	25 (32%)	15 (28%)
PTC	52 (68%)	38 (72%)	p = 0.70
Accidental cancer:	11 (15%)	28 (53%)	p < 0.001
Lymph node surgery:	35 (45%)	9 (17%)	p < 0.001
Lymph node metastases:	26/35	4/9	p = 0.12
Distant metastases:	5 (6%)	2 (4%)	p = 0.7
Microscopic clear margins:	62 (81%)	47 (89%)	p = 0.23
TNM-stage:
1	31 (40%)	31 (58%)
2	14 (18%)	5 (9%)
3	22 (29%)	11 (21%)
4	10 (13%)	6 (11%)	p = 0.21
AMES-score:
Low-risk	57 (74%)	40 (75%)
High-risk	20 (26%)	13 (25%)	p=1

PTC=Papillary thyroid cancer; FTC=Follicular thyroid cancer

Table II. Comparison of short-term outcome after total and subtotal thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid cancer.

	Total thyroidectomy n=77	Subtotal thyroidectomy n=53	p-value
Considered tumour-free:	60 (78%)	46 (87%)	p = 0.25
Complications of surgery:
Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy	4 (5%)	4 (8%)	p = 0.72
Permanent hypoparathyroidism	8 (10%)	0 (0%)	p = 0.02
Radioiodine treatment:	43 (56%)	14 (27%)	p < 0.001

Table III. Comparison of long-term outcome after total and subtotal thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid cancer.

	Total thyroidectomy n=77	Subtotal thyroidectomy n=53	p-value
Considered tumour-free after primary surgery:	60	46	0.25
Recurrences:	5/60 (8%)	6/46 (13%)	0.530
Cumulated recurrence at:
5-year	3%	11%
10-year	7%	14%	0.363
Mortality in thyroid cancer:	8/77 (10%)	7/53 (13%)	0.781
Cumulated cancer-specific survival:
5-year	92%	92%
10-year	91%	90%
15-year	91%	84%	0.567
Thyroxine substitution:	77 (100%)	36 (68%)	<0.001

Figure 1. Comparison of disease-specific survival rate after total and subtotal thyroidectomy according to AMES low-risk or high-risk score.

Figure 2. Comparison of long-term quality of life between patients treated for differentiated thyroid cancer and a Swedish reference population.