Evaluation of the etiological factors of thyroid gland neoplasms: our clinical experience

Objective: Thyroid cancer (TC), the most common endocrine malignancy worldwide, has a 10-year survival rate of more than 90% and a better prognosis than other malignancies. However, there are still conflicting data on the stimulators of cancer development, and benign thyroid diseases, such as goiter, benign thyroid nodules, Graves’ disease, chronic thyroiditis, breast cancer and various factors including age, gender, consumption of vegetables, fiber food, hypercaloric diet, and tobacco and alcohol use are considered to be responsible. In this study, we aimed to evaluate patients with thyroid neoplasms who underwent surgical treatment in terms of etiological factors discussed in light of the literature. Material and Method: In our study, patients who underwent surgery with the diagnosis of thyroid gland neoplasms between 2010 and 2020 were evaluated. A total of 371 patients were included in the study. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics v. 22. Results: Of the 371 cases included in the study, 78.16% were female and 21.83% were male. The histopathological distribution of diagnoses was as follows: 76.28% papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), 4.31% follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC), 14.29% follicular adenoma (FA), 0.54% Hurthle cell carcinoma (HCC), 3.77% Hurthle cell adenoma (HCA), and 8.08% medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). A total of 567 etiological factors were detected in 371 cases, and the highest factors ratio (1.94) being detected in the FTC group and the lowest (1.49) in the FA group. The most common of these factors was chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) (35.31%). While the most common etiological factor in the PTC diagnosis group was thyroid and other non-breast cancers and the history of radiotherapy resulting from their treatment, it was a family history of thyroid cancer in the HCA group. Other systematic organ diseases, CLT, and breast cancer were the most common factors. The body mass index was the highest in the MTC group and the lowest in the PTC group. Conclusion: Increased human development index, technological developments, greater accessibility of ultrasonography, and better diagnostic sensitivity have led to an increase in the detection of TC. Knowledge of the underlying etiological factors is important for the development of preventive measures and achieving more successful results in terms of diagnosis and treatment.