Cancer of the Thyroid. A Clinicopathological Observation on Diagnosis

Fifty-one 61 patients with carcinoma of the thyroid seen at the Second Department of Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine were investigated clinicopathologically. Ten cases with recurrent carcinoma were excluded from this investigation. This group included 37 patients with papillary adenocarcinoma, 10 with follicular adenocarcinoma and 4 with anaplastic carcinoma. This group also included 6 males and 45 females. The average age at the time of initial diagnosis was 47 years. The that of the other cancer, i.e. 14 of 51 cases had been ill for 5 years and more longer, and half of them for over 10 years. In 20 patients, soft tissue radiography was performed and in 10 cases, calcifications were revealed. Twenty cases showed aomost normal oe decreased 131I uptake, and 16 cases showed cold or cool nodules in scintigrams. Among 41 patients who were diagnosed histologically by frozen section during operation, 11 cases had false diagnosis. Involvement of the regional lymph nodes with metastases was found in 30 of 46 cases. The incidence of regional lymph nodes metastases was higher in papillary adenocarcinoma (68%) than follicular adenocarcinoma (40%). There was no close relationship between the age of the patients at the time of operation and the presence of metastases to regional lymph nodes. Theere was no close relationship between the presence of metastases to regional lymph nodes and the duration of goiters prior to operation. The cases with primary tumors in almost entire lobe on one side or in the lower pole showed the frequent occurrence of metastases to regional lymph nodes.