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Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in People Aged 85 and Older
Author(s) -
Marvin Kastley,
Parham Kourosh
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.13397
Subject(s) - medicine , thyroid cancer , cancer , thyroid , epidemiology , population , disease , cohort , cause of death , retrospective cohort study , papillary thyroid cancer , surveillance, epidemiology, and end results , thyroidectomy , cohort study , surgery , oncology , cancer registry , environmental health
Objectives To describe the characteristics and treatment patterns of differentiated thyroid cancer in older adults. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting The National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Participants Individuals age 85 and older with a primary thyroid cancer diagnosis of papillary or follicular histology diagnosed between 1988 and 2007 (N = 424). Measurements Age, sex, histology, extent of disease, tumor size, treatment, type of surgery, cause of death, and length of survival. Results Tumor size and extent of disease were significantly related to cause of death ( P = .02). Participants who did not have surgery were more likely to die of their thyroid cancer than of any other cause ( P = .01), and whether a participant had surgery was significantly related to age ( P = .002). Participants who had surgery had significantly longer survival than those who did not ( P < .001). Type of surgery ( P = .92) and adding radioactive iodine after surgery ( P = .07) did not appear to influence length of survival. Conclusion Although differentiated thyroid cancer is typically considered a relatively indolent disease, this is not the case in older adults. Surgery appears to reduce the likelihood of death from thyroid cancer in this population and confers a survival benefit. Type of surgery and adding radioactive iodine therapy do not seem to improve the survival benefit of surgical management.