Carcinoma of the thyroid gland is an uncommon cancer but, nonetheless, is the most common malignancy of the endocrine system. Thyroid cancer affects women more commonly than men, and the majority of cases occur in patients between the ages of 25 and 65. The incidence of this malignancy has been increasing over the last decade. The prognosis for differentiated carcinoma is better for patients under the age of 40 without extracapsular extension or vascular invasion.
Age appears to be the single most important prognostic factor.
Thyroid cancer commonly presents as a cold nodule. The prognostic significance of lymph node status is controversial. One retrospective surgical series of 931 previously untreated patients with differentiated thyroid cancer found that female gender, multifocality, and regional node involvement are favorable prognostic factors. Other studies, however, have shown that regional lymph node involvement had no effect or even an adverse effect on survival. An elevated serum thyroglobulin level correlates strongly with recurrent tumor when found in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer during postoperative evaluations.