Prognostic factors associated with differentiated thyroid cancer.

A multivariate analysis was conducted on the survival data of 180 patients who underwent curative resection for differentiated thyroid cancer between 1966 and 1987, and the 10- and 20-year survival rates were found to be 80.6% and 73.1%, respectively. A survival analysis was also performed, testing the following factors: the patient's age at the time of diagnosis, tumor size, extraglandular extension, nodal status, distant metastases, operative procedure, sex, and histology. A univariate analysis found the initial six factors to be significant prognostic variables, but the latter two to be of no significance. On the other hand, the multivariate analysis showed that distant metastases, age, and tumor size were the most significant prognosticators. Thus, the age of the patient should be taken into consideration during the follow-up of treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer.