Læknablaðið - 15.10.1986, Page 63

LÆKNABLAÐIÐ
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incidentally at autopsy. The incidence of clinical thyroid
cancer was 10.0 females and 3.5 males per 100.000 per
year which seems to be at least 2-3 times as high a figure
as in the other Nordic countries and amongst the highest
incidence figures reported anywhere.
The histological classification was as follows: Papillary
70.4%, follicular 16.0%, anaplastic 7.8%, medullary
3.0% and unclassified 1.7%. No cases of the familial
type were reported.
A considerable increase in the detection rate of papillary
cancer was noted around 1965. The mean size of the
cancer nodules at diagnosis decreased at the same time
and the survival rates of patients improved. The
incidence has decreased again during the last 5 years of
the study.
The number of deaths attributed directly to thyroid
cancer remained similar during these 30 years in spite of
considerable variation in incidence rates.
The mean female:male ratio was 2.9:1 but decreased to
1.7:1 at the end of the period.
The ten years survival rates of women with thyroid
cancer were very different according to the histological
types of cancer; for papillary cancer 78%, follicular
69%, medullary 67% and all patients with anaplastic
cancer were dead within three years of diagnosis.
Amongst men the best survival rate was observed for
follicular cancer 94%, papillary 52% and medullary
33%.
The age of patients at diagnosis seems to be the best
predictor of outcome: Around 1% of those diagnosed
before the age of 40 have died of thyroid cancer, 8% of
those diagnosed between 40 and 50 years of age but 37%
have died of the disease if diagnosed after the age of 50.
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