Current trends in the features of male thyroid cancer Retrospective evaluation of their prognostic value

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the clinicopathologic characteristics and oncologic outcomes of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients according to sex. Then, we validated prognostic variables to determine whether sex is a significant prognostic factor for PTC. Between January 2007 and December 2010, 1232 men and 7276 women PTC patients underwent surgery. The patient characteristics and 5-year oncologic outcomes were compared. The stepwise Cox proportional hazards model determined the significance of survival variables. Men PTC patients had more lymph node (LN) metastases than women, both in the total (P < .0001) and hemithyroidectomy (P < .0001) patients. Men and women showed similar 5-year recurrence-free survivals, both in total (P = .815) and hemithyroidectomy (P = .148) patients. The tumor size and the number of positive central nodes were associated with tumor recurrence, but not sex. Sex was not an independent prognostic factor for tumor recurrence. Multicenter clinical studies with long-term follow-ups are needed to validate these results. Abbreviations: CCND = central compartment neck dissection, CI = confidence interval, CT = computed tomography, DSS = disease-specific survival, DTC = differentiated thyroid cancer, FNAB = fine needle aspiration biopsy, FTC = follicular thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer, HR = hazard radio, LN = lymph node, OS = overall survival, PMC = papillary microcarcinoma, pN1a = pathological N1a, PTC = papillary thyroid cancer, RAI = radioactive iodine, RFS = recurrence-free survival, Tg = thyroglobulin, TSH = thyroid-stimulating hormone, US = ultrasonography.