Adverse aspects of small thyroid cancer and need for treatment

Abstract

Background. Small, well‐differentiated thyroid cancer (tumor Methods. A total of 382 thyroid cancer patients were reviewed. Of these, 99 patients had tumors that were < 1.5 cm. Thirty‐five patients in this group with positive nodes, extrathyroidal invasion, or metastatic disease were studied. Results. Thirty‐five patients (one‐third of the Conclusions. Small, well‐differentiated thyroid cancer is infrequently aggressive, but it may be a source for metastatic morbidity and recurrence and can be viewed as potentially lethal. Need for treatment should not be ignored based solely on the size of the tumor. © 1995 Jons Wiley & Sons, Inc.