October - December 2015, Volume 11, Issue 4

Ay N, Öz AB, Alp V, Bahadir MV, Yilmaz VT, Dinç B, Ay D

The Thyroid Cancer Incidence in an Endemic Goiter Region and the Relationship of Thyroid Cancer with Nodule Diameter

Acta Endo (Buc) 2015, 11 (4): 444-448
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2015.444

Objective. This study has two objectives. The first was to determine the cancer incidence in MNG cases, and to compare this with the thyroid cancer incidence in endemic goiter regions in our country and the rest of the world. The second objective was to evaluate the relationship between the dominant nodule diameter and the cancer incidence. Method. One hundred seventy-six patients who had presented to the Erzurum Oltu State Hospital General Surgery Clinic between October 2009 and March 2012 with the diagnosis of MNG, and who had undergone total thyroidectomy, were evaluated retrospectively. Findings. Papillary carcinoma was determined in 14 (8%) cases; medullary, anaplastic and follicular carcinoma were determined in 1 case each (0.6%). In 31 patients, the dominant nodule diameter was > 4cm, and malignancy was determined in 7 (22.6%) of them. Conclusion. The increase in the malignancy incidence was statistically significant in cases in which the dominant nodule diameter was > 4 cm. However, the frequency of thyroid papillary carcinoma was determined as 12.9% in MNG patients in whom the DND was > 4 cm.

Keywords: Thyroid carcinoma, goiter, endemic, dominant nodule diameter.

Correspondence: Nurettin Ay, Diyarbakir Training and Research Hospital, General Surgery Clinic, Diyarbakir, Turkey, E-mail: nurettinay77@hotmail.com.tr