Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Children in the Last 20 Years: A Regional Study in Romania

Abstract

Pediatric thyroid carcinoma is a current area of interest, because there are few studies in this field; the current classification and treatment guidelines are extrapolated from adults, sometimes leading to overly aggressive treatments or incomplete treatment of the disease. The purpose of this retrospective study is to analyze the presentation, diagnosis, treatment, complications, and outcome of children diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the last two decades (2000–2018) at the Oncological Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță” Cluj-Napoca (IOCN) Romania, a tertiary center in a region with environmental influences from both the nuclear fallout of the Chernobyl accident and from iodine deficiency. The results were compared with those obtained in a previous study carried out in the same institution between 1991–2010, and with those obtained in a similar study carried out in Netherlands between 1970–2013, a cohort of children not exposed to the post-Chernobyl fallout. We statistically analyzed 62 patients. Papillary form was present in the majority of cases, and we highlighted the occurrence of thyroid microcarcinoma in children. A total of 85.4% of patients received radioiodine, the total activity being significantly lower compared with the data from literature. In our study, the prognosis of the disease was excellent, with 100% overall survival.