Background: Papillary and follicular thyroid cancer is a common malignancy in young patients, and the incidence of this cancer has been increasing. The aims of this study are to assess the clinical characteristics of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer in young patients and evaluate the long-term therapeutic outcomes and prognostic factors for cancer mortality and recurrence.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 116 patients aged ≤20 years who underwent thyroidectomy and a mean follow-up of 11.1 ± 0.6 years.
Results: There were 28 (24.1%) patients classified into the residual cancer or relapse groups. The progression-free survival rate for the young patients was lower than that of the patients between 20 and 45 years of age; however, the difference between the thyroid cancer survival rates was not statistically different. Two of the 28 patients died of thyroid cancer. Thirteen patients who showed relapsed underwent (131)I whole-body scan; 6 of the 13 patients were diagnosed with distant metastases to the lung and 1 was diagnosed with distant metastases to the bones. Among the young patients, the 5- and 10-year progression-free survival rates were 79.1 and 73.4%, respectively, and the corresponding cancer survival rates were 99.1, and 96.5%, respectively.
Conclusion: The progression-free survival in young patients with papillary and follicular thyroid cancer was lower than the patients of age 20-45 years; otherwise, cancer survival was higher than age group over or equal to 45 years.