Comparison of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Papillary Microcarcinoma in Terms of Clinical Features and Prognostic Factors

Purpose: In this study, we compared papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and papillary microcarcinoma (PMC) in terms of the clinical features and prognostic factors. For the choice of appropriate treatment method, we researched differences between PTC and PMC retrospectively. Material and Method: A total 714 patients 486 with PTC (68%) and 228 with PMC (32%) who were followed in our hospital were enrolled into the study. Age, sex, background, tumour variants, pathologic features, surgical procedure and postoperative surgical complications were collected from archival records and were analysed. Results: The average follow-up time was 33.7 +/- 24.7 months in patients with PTC and 34.2 +/- 29.1 months in those with PMC. 82% of patients with PTC and 81% of PMC patients were women. The mean age at diagnosis was 45.4 +/- 11.0 years. The mean age at diagnosis in male patients was (48.2 +/- 10.4 years) which was significantly higher compared to that in women (40.3 +/- 12.0 years) (p<0.001). There were also no significant differences in terms of prognostic factors, such as capsule invasion, vascular invasion, distant metastasis, bilaterality, multicentricity, age, sex, and tumour variants between PTC and PMC patients. Lymph node metastasis was more frequent in bilateral and multicentric tumours (p=0.010). Discussion: We found no significant difference between PTC and PMC in terms of poor prognostic factors, such as capsule invasion, vascular invasion, distant metastasis, bilaterality and multicentricity. These findings suggest that follow-up and treatment of patients with bilateral and multicentric PMC is appropriate for patients with PTC.