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Surgical Management of Follicular Cancer

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Thyroid Cancer

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Abstract

Follicular thyroid cancers are derived from follicular epithelium within the thyroid gland. They account for about 10% of all thyroid cancers, and this percentage seems to be decreasing (1). Follicular thyroid cancers differ from the more common follicular adenomas because the follicular cells in the cancers invade the vessels or into the capsule or both. Most follicular thyroid cancers have a microfollicular histological pattern. These tumors are usually unifocal and encapsulated. In contrast to papillary thyroid cancers that often metastasize to regional lymph nodes, follicular thyroid cancers infrequently involve the lymph nodes (less than 10% of patients), but more frequently metastasize hematogenously to lung and bones (2). Follicular thyroid tumors that contain papillary elements are considered to be papillary thyroid cancer as are follicular variants of papillary thyroid cancer (3). In fact, when a young patient is reported to have a follicular thyroid cancer with numerous regional lymph node metastases, this tumor on review is usually a follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer. Crile and Hazard (4) also stated that follicular thyroid cancers in children behave like papillary thyroid cancer and lymph node metastases are common It is likely that some of these tumors were actually follicular variants of papillary thyroid cancer.

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Authors
  1. Orlo H. Clark
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Leonard Wartofsky MD, MPH, MACP (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard) (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard)

  2. Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA

    Leonard Wartofsky MD, MPH, MACP (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard) (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard)

  3. George Washington University of Schools of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Leonard Wartofsky MD, MPH, MACP (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard) (Chairman, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown, Howard)

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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Clark, O.H. (2000). Surgical Management of Follicular Cancer. In: Wartofsky, L. (eds) Thyroid Cancer. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-199-2_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-199-2_29

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-6845-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-199-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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