Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Currently, about 5–15% of non-medullary thyroid cancers (FNMTC) are considered to be of familial origin. These are either syndrome-associated tumours or non-syndromic tumours. The aim of the study was to determine the clinical, pathological and biochemical characteristics of FNMTC compared to non-familial ones with a follow-up of 10 years.

Methods: Among FNMCT followed by a single physician, 62 patients with papillary cancer were screened retrospectively.

Results: (40.3%) patients had either one or more of their first-degree relatives with papillary cancer. Age (48.1±15.1 years vs 45.3±13.1 years), female/male ratios (20/5 vs 29/8) and age at diagnosis (44.1±12.1 yrs vs 39.4±10.9 years) were similar. Bilateral tumours (7/25 vs 5/32, P=0.01) and capsular invasion (11/25 vs 9/28, P=0.004) were more frequent in FNMTC compared to non-familial ones. Maximum tumour diameter (0.9±0.6 cm vs 1.3±1.0 cm) was comparable. Multicentricity (8/25 vs 8/37), lymph node metastasis (5/25 vs 6/37), vascular invasion (5/25 vs 5/37 patients), number of patients being operated more than once (4/25 vs 8/37 patients), having radioiodine therapy (10/25 vs 13/37), having classical tumour subtypes (11/25 vs 15/37) were comparable among groups. Postoperative thyroglobulin (0.48±1.02 vs 0.65±1.48) and TSH levels (0.16±0.26 vs 0.25±0.45) at 1^st and (0.31±0.44 vs 0.44±0.76 thyroglobulin and 0.02±0.03 vs 0.32±0.69 TSH) 5^th year follow-up were comparable. When patients with two cases (n=20) and more than two cases in family (n=5) were compared, all above mentioned parameters were similar among groups.

Conclusion: In conclusion, FNMTC tends to be more bilateral and has a higher rate of capsular invasion compared to non-familial ones.