Thyroid cancer surgery in the elderly: a comparative study of 1176 patients

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to compare the results of patients who were treated with two groups (under 65 years and over 65 years) of thyroid cancer.Methods: A retrospective review of 1176 patients undergoing thyroid cancer surgery between January 2007 and December 2016 was performed. Patients were grouped as ≥65 (geriatric group) and <65 years (non-geriatric group).Results: A total of 139 patients (11.8%) were over 65 years of age and 1037 patients (88.2%) were under 65 years of age. There were 104 female (74.8%) and 35 (25.2%) male patients in the geriatric group. In the non-geriatric group, 917 (78%) patients were female and 259 (22%) were male (p = 0.39). FNAB showed a significant increase in malignant potential in the elderly (p = 0.005). In our series, malignant differences between geriatric and non-geriatric groups are less pronounced among thyroid carcinomas other than capsular invasion. Although there was no significant difference in histopathologic examination, malignant cytology was higher in the elderly patients. There was no significant difference between the young and elderly patients in terms of complication.Conclusions: In this study, papillary Thyroid Ca (PTC) was found to be the most common type of cancer and we could not find any difference in cancer type distribution in geriatric and non-geriatric patients. Total/near total thyroidectomy in experienced hands is safe for elderly patients. There is no difference in terms of complication.