Pediatric Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: When to Perform Conservative and Radical Surgery

Title:Pediatric Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: When to Perform Conservative and Radical Surgery

Volume: 12 Issue: 4

Author(s): Claudio Spinelli, Leonardo Rossi, Jessica Piscioneri, Silvia Strambi, Alessandro Antonelli, Andrea Ferrari, Maura Massimino and Paolo Miccoli

Affiliation:

Keywords: Adolescent surgery, pediatric age, pediatric surgery, thyroid cancer.

Abstract: Thyroid tumors affect all age groups, including children and adolescents. Malignant cancer of the thyroid is a relatively uncommon disease in pediatric age. In the recent decades the incidence of paediatric differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has increased. DTC in paediatric age is rare and has an excellent prognosis.

Compared to adult counterpart, DTC in childhood presents some different features as follows: larger volume at the diagnosis, more frequent multicentricity (both mono- and bilateral), earlier local involvement of soft tissue of the neck, earlier lymph node involvement, distant metastases 3-4 times more frequent (most often in the lungs and almost always functional) and more common post-operatory recurrence; nevertheless, the prognosis of DTC in childhood is better and the survival greater than in adult.

Because of unusual association between aggressive presentation and good prognosis, the choice about the surgical treatment to perform in DTC is debatable, especially between conservative and radical approach in TNM stage I pediatric patients. To date, total thyroidectomy is the operation most often performed in children with DTC, although recently conservative surgery has been performed in solitary unifocal nodule without evidence distant metastases.

Cite this article as:

Spinelli Claudio, Rossi Leonardo, Piscioneri Jessica, Strambi Silvia, Antonelli Alessandro, Ferrari Andrea, Massimino Maura and Miccoli Paolo, Pediatric Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: When to Perform Conservative and Radical Surgery, Current Pediatric Reviews 2016; 12 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1573396312666161014092023

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1573396312666161014092023	Print ISSN 1573-3963
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher	Online ISSN 1875-6336