Thyroid cancer: a study of 573 thyroid tumors and 161 autopsy cases observed over a thirty-year period.

Five hundred and seventy-three thyroid tumors from surgical material and 161 autopsy cases were studied as to incidence, types, and precursor changes using the new WHO-classification. In the surgical material 225 tumors were follicular, 145 papillary, 147 anaplastic, 23 squamous cell, and 10 medullary. Twenty-three sarcomas were found. tthe percentage of follicular carcinoma had decreased, whereas that of papillary carcinoma increased and that of anaplastic carcinoma remained constant. In over 50% of anaplastic carcinomas neoplastic follicular structures have been identified. As a rule the more sections are prepared, the more papillary carcinomas and the less sarcomas are diagnosed. Thyroid tumors leading to death were found in 0.33% of 53,134 consecutive autopsies. Anaplastic (52.3%) and follicular (33.5%) carcinoma were most frequently encountered. Metastases of follicular and anaplastic carcinoma were most often found in the lung, pleura, and bones, whereas lymph nodes of the neck, lung, and bones were predominantly involved in cases of the papillary type. Therapy of thyroid carcinoma is total thyroidectomy. The transition of follicular carcinoma to the anaplastic type has to be avoided whenever possible.