Abstract
The objective of this study was to define the prognostic factors of papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid (PMCT), and to analyse their epidemiologic and histopathologic characteristics. Our series included 57 patients diagnosed with PMCT between 1994 and 2003 among 944 patients who underwent thyroid surgery. All the surgical specimens were examined in the same department of pathology using the same technique. The prognostic factors were elaborated from the results of the histological examination. The epidemiological and histopathological characteristics were also evaluated. Two sub-groups were distinguished: patients with node disease and/or with metastasis (17 patients) and patients without node disease and metastasis (40 patients). The architecture of PMCT was papillary in 14% of cases, follicular in 35% of cases and mixed in 49% of cases, with no significant difference between any two groups. Histopathologic characteristics such as the vascular extension, infiltration into the adjacent parenchyma or in the thyroid capsule are all indicative of a poor prognosis. Two categories of PMCT, with and without the risk of metastatic spread, can be identified from these prognostic factors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allo MD, Christianson W, Koivunen D (1988) Not all “occult” papillary carcinomas are “minimal”. Surgery 104:971–976
Baudin E, Travagli JP, Ropers J, Mancusi F, Bruno-Bossio G, Caillou B, Cailleux AF, Lumbroso JD, Parmentier C, Schlumberger M (1998) Microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland. The Gustave–Roussy Institute experience. Cancer 83:553–559
Cardis E, Kesminiene A, Ivanov V et al (2005) Risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to 131I in childhood. J Natl Cancer Inst 97:724–732
Chow SM, Law SC, Chan JK, Au SK, Yau S, Lau WH (2003) Papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid. Prognostic significance of lymph node metastasis and multifocality. Cancer 98:31–40
Cohn KH, Backdahl M, Forsslund G, Auer G, Zetterberg A, Lundell G, Granberg PO, Lowhagen T, Willems JS, Cady B (1984) Biologic considerations and operative strategy in papillary thyroid carcinoma: arguments against the routine performance of total thyroidectomy. Surgery 96:957–971
Cushing SL, Palme CE, Audet N, Eski S, Walfish PG, Freeman JL (2004) Prognostic factors in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Laryngoscope 114:2110–2115
Desuter G, Lonneux M, Plouin-Gaudon I, Jamar F, Coche E, Weynand B, Rahier J, Gregoire V, Andry G, Hamoir M (2004) Parapharyngeal metastases from thyroid cancer. Eur J Surg Oncol 30:80–84
Drucker WD, Robbins RJ (2006) Papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid. In: Mazzaferri EL, Harmer C, Mallick UK, Kendall-Taylor (eds) Practical management of thyroid cancer. Springer, London, pp 371–389
Falvo L, D’Ercole C, Sorrenti S, D’Andrea V, Catania A, Berni A, Grilli P, De Antoni E (2003) Papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland: analysis of prognostic factors including histological subtype. Eur J Surg Suppl 588:28–32
Fink A, Tomlinson G, Freeman JL, Rosen IB, Asa SL (1996) Occult micropapillary carcinoma associated with benign follicular thyroid disease and unrelated thyroid neoplasms. Mod Pathol 9:816–820
Grant CS, Hay ID, Gough IR, Bergstralh EJ, Goellner JR, McConahey WM (1988) Local recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma: is extent of surgical resection important? Surgery 104:954–962
Harach HR, Franssila KO, Wasenius VM (1985) Occult papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. A “normal” finding in Finland. A systematic autopsy study. Cancer 56:531–538
Harwood J, Clark OH, Dunphy JE (1978) Significance of lymph node metastasis in differentiated thyroid cancer. Am J Surg 136:107–112
Hay ID, Grant CS, Van Heerden JA, Goellner JR, Ebersold JR, Bergstralh EJ (1992) Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a study of 535 cases observed in a 50-year period. Surgery 112:1139–1147
Hedinger C, Williams ED, Sobin LH (1989) The WHO histological classification of thyroid tumors: a commentary on the second edition. Cancer 63:908–911
Lombardi D, Nicolai P, Antonelli AR, Maroldi R, Farina D, Shaha AR (2004) Parapharyngeal lymph node metastasis: an unusual presentation of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Head Neck 26:190–196
Martinez-Tello FJ, Martinez-Cabruja R, Fernandez-Martin J, Lasso-Oria C, Ballestin-Carcavilla C (1993) Occult carcinoma of the thyroid. A systematic autopsy study from Spain of two series performed with two different methods. Cancer 71:4022–4029
Nasir A, Chaudhry AZ, Gillespie J, Kaiser HE (2000) Papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid: a clinico–pathologic and prognostic review. In Vivo 14:367–376
Remontet L, Estève J, Bouvier AM, Grosclaude P, Launoy G, Menegoz F, Exbrayat C, Tretare B, Carli PM, Guizard AV, Troussard X, Bercelli P, Colonna M, Halna JM, Hedelin G, Mace-Lesec’h J, Peng J, Buemi A, Velten M, Jougla E, Arveux P, Le Bodic L, Michel E, Sauvage M, Schvartz C, Faivre J (2003) Cancer incidence and mortality in France over the period 1978–2000. Rev Epidémiol Santé Publique 51:3–30
Rosai J, LiVolsi VA, Sobrinho-Simoes M, Williams ED (2003) Renaming papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland: the Porto proposal. Int J Surg Pathol 11:249–251
Ruggieri M, Genderini M, Gargiulo P, Del Grammastro A, Mascaro A, Luongo B, Paolini A (2001) Surgical treatment of differentiated microcarcinomas of the thyroid. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 5:85–89
Satge D, Grob JC, Pusel J, Methlin G (1990) Thyroid microcarcinoma with a fatal outcome and 34 other unusually aggressive cases reported in the literature [in French]. Arch Anat Cytol Path 38:143–151
Strate SM, Lee EL, Childers JH (1984) Occult papillary of the thyroid with distant metastases. Cancer 54:1093–1100
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Caroline Martin for statistical analysis and her assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jacquot-Laperrière, S., Timoshenko, A.P., Dumollard, JM. et al. Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: incidence and prognostic factors. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 264, 935–939 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-007-0290-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-007-0290-4