Objective:
To determine whether familial nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma behaves like sporadic carcinoma of follicular cell origin.
Design:
Retrospective review.
Setting:
University medical center.
Patients:
Fourteen patients were treated for familial nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma between 1980 and 1994. Thirteen families were identified, with 30 affected individuals.
Interventions:
Patients were treated with total or completion total thyroidectomy. Thirteen additional operations were performed to control recurrent disease.
Main Outcome Measures:
Stage, recurrence, and survival. Patients were followed up for a mean of 6.5 years.
Results:
In our 14 patients, 13 tumors were multifocal, and six of these were bilateral. The incidences of lymph node metastasis and local invasion were both 57% (n=8). Seven patients (50%) had recurrences during follow-up.
Conclusions:
Familial nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma has a high incidence of multifocality and invasion and a high rate of local recurrence. Aggressive initial treatment and careful follow-up seem to be indicated.(Arch Surg. 1995;130:892-899)