Multivariate analysis of histopathological features as prognostic factors in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma

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Abstract
A retrospective analysis of 121 papillary thyroid carcinomas was made to assess prognostic factors including histological variants which might be related to survival. The mean follow‐up period was 10 years and clinical, surgical and histopathological data were studied. The survival curves were analysed by the Kaplan‐Meier method and the multivariate analysis used Cox's regression model. Eighty‐seven patients had well differentiated papillary cancers. The survival rate for papillary thyroid cancer was 86 per cent at 5 years and 72 per cent at 10 years. Factors showing prognostic significance for survival were tumour size, extrathyroid extension and histological type. Disease‐free survival was influenced by sex, existence of a capsule and nodal metastases. Factors showing a favourable prognosis were: age under 45 years, size less than 4 cm, no extrathyroid extension and well differentiated histological type (P < 0·001). Histological subtype was one of the most important prognostic factors.