What are the common stages of thyroid cancer? Will thyroid cancer recur after surgery?

Regarding the staging of thyroid cancer, the most commonly used one is the TNM staging system both internationally and domestically. According to the fifth revision of the TNM staging system by the Union International Control Cancer (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) in 1997, the factors affecting the staging of thyroid cancer are first the pathological type, the size of the tumor and the degree of lymph node invasion are also related to the staging, and age has an important influence on the staging of differentiated thyroid cancer. If the tumor is multi-centric, the largest tumor is used as the standard for staging.

Definition of TNM: ① Primary tumor (T): TX: The primary tumor cannot be estimated. T0: No primary tumor was found. T1: The tumor is confined to the thyroid gland, with a maximum diameter of ≤25px. T2: The tumor is confined to the thyroid gland, with a maximum diameter of 25px < maximum diameter ≤100px. T3: The tumor is confined to the thyroid gland, with a maximum diameter of >100px. T4: Regardless of the size of the tumor, it extends beyond the thyroid capsule. ② Regional lymph nodes (N): Regional lymph nodes refer to the lymph nodes in the neck and upper mediastinum. NX: The regional lymph node situation cannot be estimated. N0: No regional lymph node metastasis was found. N1: Regional lymph node metastasis can be divided into N1a ipsilateral cervical lymph node metastasis, N1b bilateral or contralateral cervical lymph node metastasis, cervical midline lymph node or mediastinal lymph node metastasis. ③ Distant metastasis (M): MX: It is impossible to estimate whether there is distant metastasis. M0: No distant metastasis. M1: Distant metastasis.

Whether thyroid cancer metastasizes or recurs after surgery is obviously related to the scope of surgical resection. According to statistics, the recurrence rate after simple tumor resection is 40% to 60%, and the recurrence rate after tumor and affected thyroid lobectomy is 10% to 20%. In addition, the degree of malignancy of thyroid cancer also determines the recurrence rate. In other words, the higher the malignancy, the greater the possibility of postoperative recurrence or distant metastasis. In addition, recurrence and metastasis are also closely related to the correctness of the first treatment plan. If the surgical plan is formulated and selected properly, the 10-year survival rate is generally above 90%.