The Frequency of Malignancy in Nodular Thyroid Disease

Abstract

The thyroid nodules occur quite frequent but, thyroid carcinoma is a relatively infrequent malignancy. Thyroid carcinoma is generally regarded as a condition of modest oncologic importance because it accounts for less than 0.5% of cancer deaths (less than 2% of all cancers). A sample of 196 patients with nodular thyroid enlargements who underwent thyroidectomies were included in this cross-sectional study. The diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma was confirmed in 18(9.2%) patients in this series. Most of the patients were presented with benign goiters, mainly nontoxic multinodular goiter. Cervical lymphadenopathy was present in 4(22.2%) at presentation. In ten patients out of the 18 patients (55.5%) diagnosed with carcinoma, it was possible to make a correct diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma before and at operation time. While in the remaining eight patients (44.5%) the diagnosis of carcinoma was made at a histopathological examination of the surgical specimens. In conclusion goiter affect female more than male. Nodular colloid goiter was the main pathology. Thyroid carcinoma reported in 9.18% of the sample with goiters. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest histopathological type among patients with carcinomas.