The impact of the extent of thyroid resection complemented by radioiodine management on disease free status and discharge rates among differentiated thyroid cancer patients: A retrospective analysis

Background Well-differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) are common endocrine cancers. They originate from follicular cells and parafollicular cells, and they have good prognosis. The pivotal treatment is surgery followed by radioiodine management. However, the extent of thyroid resection remains debatable. Currently both total thyroidectomy (TT) and thyroid lobectomy (TL) are performed followed by radioiodine management. Aims The study aimed at evaluating the impact of the extent of thyroid resection complemented by radioiodine management on disease free status and discharge rates among DTC patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of DTC patients' files managed with radioiodine post-surgery in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital. The information extracted from the patient files included; the patient's gender, histology, age, diagnosis, the nature of surgery (TT or TL), date of ablation, quantity of radioiodine dose administered and patients' treatment status. Results Sixteen patients met the study criteria; having had thyroid resection and later managed with radioiodine. A total of 5/16 (31.3 per cent) patients underwent TL and 11/16 (68.7 per cent) underwent TT. At the end of the study period, 5/11 (45.5 per cent) TT patients had been discharged compared to 1/5 (20 per cent) TL patients. The study also established that TL patients received higher cumulative doses compared to TT patients during the treatment, despite only two TL patients having been diagnosed with metastasis. Conclusion Administration of radioiodine among TT patients increases disease free status while among TL patients its role is debatable. TT optimises the management DTC with radioiodine resulting in improved outcomes.