Prevalence of cancer in follicular thyroid nodules: is there still a role for intraoperative frozen section analysis?

The optimal surgical management of follicular thyroid nodules and the effectiveness of frozen section (FS) analysis in planning the operation are still controversial. In this study, we reviewed the prevalence of cancer in 309 consecutive patients (230 females, 79 males, aged 42 +/- 13 years) with follicular nodules at fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and the efficacy of FS evaluation in selecting cancers. On the whole, the prevalence of cancer was 20.1%; the occurrence of follicular variants of papillary cancer (14.9%) was threefold higher than follicular cancers (5.2%). The presence of atypical features at FNAC selected nodules with a significantly higher prevalence of cancer (46.7%, p = 0.01). FS analysis was performed in 142 patients and recognized only 8 of 27 (30%) cancers, one fourth of them with atypia at FNAC. In conclusion, this study confirms a 20% overall prevalence of malignancy in patients with follicular thyroid nodules. The association of cell atypia with a follicular pattern may define a subgroup of nodules more likely to be malignant. FS was seldom effective in recognizing cancer confirming the doubt on its cost effectiveness in planning the surgical approach. Protocols aimed at a better cytologic identification of follicular variants of papillary cancer should be considered.