An 18-year study of thyroid carcinoma in the western region of Saudi Arabia: a retrospective single-center study in a community hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThyroid carcinoma (TC) is the ninth most common site of all cancers in women in the world and the second most common malignancy in Saudi Arabia. This reports updates data on the epidemiology of the disease in Saudi Arabia.OBJECTIVEDescribe and interpret changes in the frequency of TC to compare with other populations and determine proportions of certain histological types of TC.DESIGNMedical record review.SETTINGMilitary hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.PATIENTS AND METHODSWe reviewed the pathological and clinical records from January 2000 to December 2017 of patients with TC.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESFrequency and types of TC.SAMPLE SIZE347 patients.RESULTSOver the 18-year period, out of 456 patients with TC, 347 patients had sufficiently complete records: 275 (79.3%) were female and 72 (20.7%) were male for a female to male ratio of 3.8:1. The mean (SD) age at surgery of all patients was 45.2 (16.0) years. There were 287 (82.7%) cases of papillary TC. The next common malignancy was follicular TC with 32 (9.2%) cases followed by Hurthle cell cancer with 11 (3.2%) cases. Lymphoma was found in only 7 (2%) cases. All TC types occurred at a younger age in females than males except for lymphoma. All TC types occurred with the greatest frequency in the fourth and fifth decades. There was a 2.3-fold increase in the number of TCs from 8 (2.3%) in 2000 to 26 (7.5%) in 2017. The rate per 100 000 residents of Jeddah increased for the period from 2000 to 2002 from 1.6 to 3.4 for 2015–2017. Papillary TC cases in females accounted for most of the increase.CONCLUSIONOur findings are consistent with similar studies worldwide. Etiological factors promoting the rise in TC must be investigated and may provide insight in developing suitable management strategies for the Saudi population.LIMITATIONSmall sample size and retrospective over a long period.

The impact of thyroid tumor features on lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients in head and neck department at KAMC: A retrospective cross-sectional study

“…In this study, we did not find an association between age and LNM (p = 0.933). Previous studies in Jeddah, Riyadh, Aseer and our study in Makkah reported the same histological subtype of the global data regarding thyroid cancer, which is papillary followed by follicular thyroid carcinoma [ 2 , 3 , 22 , 25 ]. Many studies have investigated ETE associated with lymph node metastasis in PTC to assess disease prognosis.…”

“…In Saudi Arabia, the incidence of PTC has been increasing [ 2 ]. Thyroid cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women in Saudi Arabia, and PTC makes up 82.7% of all thyroid carcinomas [ 3 ]. Generally, the prognosis of patients with PTC is very good, and it has a very low postoperative mortality risk [ 4 ].…”

Thyroid neoplasm in Makkah region, Saudi Arabia

“…In KSA, a significant increase in thyroid cancer occurrence over the last few years due to several risk factors. 3 , 4 , 12 Our study included patients from different regions as KAMC is a tertiary referral center in the western part, so the majority of our samples were from the western region (157 patients).…”

“…This is consistent with the literature, which showed that PTC is the most frequently differentiated TC, followed by follicular carcinoma. 12 , 18 , 19 Hussain et al, 19 reviewed the demographic aspects of TC patients for 10 years at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, KSA, and showed that the majority of cases had PTC and its classical subtype (72%). This is very close to our findings (70%).…”

Clinicopathological Characteristics of Thyroid Cancer in a Saudi Academic Hospital

“…The global incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) has increased significantly over the past decades. It was postulated that this is mainly due to overdiagnosis attributed to advances in medical care, diagnostic imaging, and fine-needle aspiration cytology studies [1][2][3][4][5][6]. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest an actual rise in the incidence of TC.…”