Analysis of risk factors for postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer

Purpose: The study was designed to analyze the risk factors related to postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer to reduce the recurrence rate. Methods: A total of 250 patients with thyroid cancer after operation were collected and divided into non-recurrent group (n=220) and recurrent group (n=30) according to whether the cancer recurred after operation or not. The postoperative recurrence rate of thyroid cancer was analyzed. The general condition, tumor characteristics, surgical approach, conditions of postoperative I-131 treatment and pathological type of the two groups of patients were compared. The correlations of the postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer with clinical risk factors were analyzed by means of Logistic regression analysis. Results: The recurrence rate of thyroid cancer after operation was 12%, and the cumulative recurrence rates at 1, 2 and 3 years after operation were 3.20%, 6.00% and 10.40%, respectively. The recurrence rate in males was higher than that in females (p<0.05). The larger tumor diameter, the lower rate of lymph node metastasis and the lower level of tissue differentiation would eventually lead to the higher recurrence rate (p <0.01). Tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis and pathological type were correlated with the postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer (p<0.05). Conclusion: Gender, tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis and pathological type are risk factors for recurrence after thyroidectomy.