Impact of sex on the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of papillary thyroid cancer

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. Observed clinical and pathological differences between the sexes of PTC patients have been reported. There is currently no consensus regarding the impact of sex on PTC prognostication. We studied 566 PTC patients and observed that there was a higher PTC incidence in women, that PTC diagnosis was more challenging in women, and that men tended to present with larger cancers. However, once PTC is diagnosed, both sexes have a similar cancer prognosis, as evaluated using the MACIS (Metastasis, Age, Completeness of Resection, Invasion, Size) score. Our observations suggest that research efforts should be especially directed at improving the diagnostic yield of preoperative fine needle aspiration biopsy in women who present with nodular thyroid disease.