Thyroid malignancies: a New Zealand South Island thyroid

Aim To assess the number and histological type of thyroid malignancies occurring in the northern half of New Zealand’s South Island (referral population of 553,000). Methods Patients with newly diagnosed thyroid malignancies seen at thyroid clinic, Christchurch Hospital between 1995 and 2006 were identified from the thyroid clinic database, and the histological diagnoses and clinical features were reviewed from hospital records. Results During the 12-year study period, 213 patients with thyroid malignancy were identified. The majority had thyroid cancer of follicular cell origin—184 differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) and 9 anaplastic thyroid cancers. The DTC patients included 130 with papillary thyroid cancers (PTC)—71%; 33 follicular thyroid cancers (FTC)—18%; and 21 Hürthle cell thyroid cancers (HTC)—11%. One of the papillary cancer patients had a mixed papillary-medullary tumour. The 184 DTC patients included five patients with an immediate family member with thyroid cancer—including a mother-son pair with papillary cancer. Tumours of nonfollicula