Cancer of the thyroid gland in infants and children.

Carcinoma of the thyroid gland is unusual in children and represents only about 3% of pediatric malignancies. Surgical management is the principal method of treatment, but there is considerable controversy regarding exactly how much of the thyroid gland should be removed for adequate treatment. There also is controversy regarding the use of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in the evaluation of potentially neoplastic thyroid lesions. In this report, the pertinent literature is reviewed regarding these issues. Moreover, this report will discuss recent discoveries that have elucidated some of the molecular biological events responsible for the development of thyroid cancer. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company