We retrospectively analyzed the outcome for patients with locally invasive
papillary carcinoma. The study group comprised 40 patients with locally inv
asive papillary thyroid carcinoma first diagnosed between 1981 and 1995. Th
e enrolled patients were divided into two groups according to whether they
underwent complete resection (n = 19) or not (n = 21). All patients were fo
llowed-up for a maximum of 206 months and a minimum of 33 months until 1998
. There were no significant differences among these two groups with regard
to age, sex, or tumor size. Recurrence of the disease was recognized in fou
r patients in the complete resection group and ten in the incomplete group.
There were no significant differences in the recurrence rate between both
groups. Five patients from the incomplete resection group died of disease,
and all patients from the complete resection group were alive. The percenta
ge of surviving patients in the complete resection group was significantly
higher than that in the incomplete group. The 15-year survival rates of the
complete resection group and incomplete resection group were 100% and 74.2
%, respectively. The 15-year survival rate of patients younger than 45 year
s in the incomplete resection group was 100%. The 15-year survival rate of
the complete resection group was significantly higher than that of the inco
mplete group. In conclusion, complete resection without tumor residue shoul
d be performed for patients older than 45 years.