Various prognostic factors have been tested in multivariate analyses of 216 patients with papillary, follicular or medullary thyroid carcinomas without initial distant metastases. The median follow-up time was 11 years. The patient's sex was not found to be a significant predictor. Age at diagnosis seemed to be an important predictor for papillary as well as for follicular carcinomas, but when deaths in intercurrent disease were estimated, marked cellular atypia and tumour invasion beyond the thyroid capsule proved to be more important predictors. For medullary carcinomas tumour invasion beyond the thyroid capsule was the only significant predictor.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Thyroid tissue characterization by proton magnetic resonance relaxation time determination.

Measurements were performed at 37 degrees C on 49 fresh samples excised from cancerous (n = 16) or non-malignant (n = 33) thyroid tissues of 23 patients. They were carried out for protons at a frequency of 10.7 MHz with pulse sequences (90 degrees-t-90 degrees) and (90 degrees-t-180 degrees-t) for T1 and T2 respectively. The estimates were correlated to histopathology with quantitative measurements of the proportions of colloid, thyroid epithelium, fibrosis, and haemorrhage tissue. Discriminant analysis of malignant and non-malignant tissues using T1 and T2 values, was not successful. T1 and T2 values were correlated to each other. Both were correlated to the proportions of water, thyroid epithelium and haemorrhage and inversely correlated to the amount of colloid. Multiple regression analysis revealed that T2 values were more tissue-specific than T1 values. The analyses indicate possibilities to identify different thyroid tissues by magnetic resonance imaging, especially by T2 weighted MR images.

Body Water↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Southern travelling habits with special reference to tumour site in Swedish melanoma patients.

Southern travelling habits were recorded for 127 melanoma patients from southern parts of Sweden (the 56th latitude), 55 thyroid cancer patients, 100 non-Hodgkin's patients and 794 healthy controls from the same region. Melanoma patients were found to travel significantly more often south of the 45th latitude, as compared with patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or thyroid carcinoma (RR = 2.2 for a difference of + 10 trips), and with the healthy controls (RR = 1.4 for a difference of + 10 trips). Considering men and women separately, the difference was significant only for men. Patients with melanoma had a higher educational level than the tumour controls and the healthy controls (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively). There was a significant correlation between high travelling frequency and high education. An increased risk related to southern travelling was present for patients with melanoma on the extremities and head and neck, as well as for patients with truncal melanoma. These findings support the concept that acute exposure to sunburn may be a risk factor for malignant melanoma.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sensitivity and specificity of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of tumors of the thyroid gland.

A study of the preoperative fine needle aspiration cytologies in consecutive patients with primary malignant tumors (203 cases) or benign thyroid tumors (217 cases) showed a sensitivity of 0.57 and a specificity of 0.98. The sensitivity of FNA cytology in medullary and undifferentiated carcinomas was 0.82 and 0.84, respectively; none of these were microscopically misdiagnosed. The sensitivity was only 0.58 for papillary carcinomas (excluding occult carcinoma) and 0.42 for follicular carcinoma. Four reasons for these low sensitivities were identified: tumors missed at aspiration, microscopic misinterpretations, diagnoses of cellular atypia and indeterminate diagnoses. Reevaluation of the false diagnoses once more emphasized the problem of distinguishing follicular adenomas from follicular carcinomas. Microscopically undiagnosed papillary carcinomas were either the result of misinterpretations of the characteristic cytomorphologic features or of the smears being misdiagnosed as showing cellular atypia when papillary formations were missing and only one or two of the other cellular criteria were evident. The specificity of FNA cytology of thyroid tumors was found to be high enough to permit surgical intervention after a cytodiagnosis of malignancy.

Adenocarcinoma↗