Are there any absolute predictors of adverse outcome for patients with thyroid cancer?
Patient age, tumor size, and extra thyroidal spread at the time of diagnosis are among the variables that influence survival in patients with thyroid cancer. To review the results of a retrospective series of patients with the follicular variant of differentiated thyroid cancer, see J Am Coll Surg. 2000 Dec;191(6):600-6. Recurrence of thyroid cancer in local lymph nodes occurs in 10-15% of patients with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, and in younger patients less than 45 years of age, is not associated with an adverse prognosis. See Prognosis after lymph node recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma depends on age. Thyroid. 2001 Oct;11(10):953-7.
