Childhood thyroid carcinoma — single-centre experience

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common histological form of thyroid cancer in children and is characterized by a very good prognosis. However lymph node and lung metastases in PTC occur more frequently in pediatric patients than in adults. Ultrasound together with fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) are the gold standard in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules in children. A new valuable diagnostic method became also elastography. The gold treatment standard remains thyroidectomy. In young patients with lymph node and/or distant metastases, there is abundant evidence to show that disease-free survival is improved by radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. We present three patients diagnosed with PTC in Department of Paediatrics, Endocrinology, Diabetology with Cardiology Division, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland treated with the cooperation of the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Endocrine Oncology at M. Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute in Gliwice, Poland.