{"id":2655,"date":"2025-06-25T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/?p=2655"},"modified":"2025-06-24T11:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T14:03:46","slug":"age-related-differences-in-pediatric-thyroid-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/2025\/06\/25\/age-related-differences-in-pediatric-thyroid-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Age-related differences in pediatric thyroid cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniela Barros, post graduate student, Surgical Clinic Program, Ribeir\u00e3o Preto Medical School, University of S\u00e3o Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeir\u00e3o Preto, SP, Brasil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Pediatric thyroid cancer, though rare, has been increasingly recognized worldwide, driven by advances in detection and a growing understanding of its unique biological behavior. In this context, a 20-year retrospective study, Age-related characteristics in differentiated thyroid cancer: a 20-year single-center retrospective analysis in pediatric and adolescent patients<\/a> (vol. 69, no. 2 , 2025), published by the journal Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism<\/em>, conducted by Dr. Laura Leite-Almeida and colleagues at the Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o and the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidade do Porto, Portugal, sought to shed light on how age at diagnosis impacts clinical features and outcomes in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) among children and adolescents.<\/p>\n

The motivation for the study arose from the observation that the pediatric thyroid gland is particularly susceptible to carcinogenesis, especially following exposure to ionizing radiation, and that disease behavior may vary significantly with age. Despite these concerns, long-term outcome data for pediatric thyroid cancer remain scarce, and treatment guidelines are often extrapolated from adult populations. This underscores the importance of examining real-world data from pediatric cohorts to inform age-specific management strategies.<\/p>\n

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Image: voltamax via Pixabay<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The primary objective was to characterize the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcomes of pediatric DTC patients over two decades, comparing those younger than 12 with their older counterparts. Age 12 was chosen as a cutoff given its typical alignment with puberty onset, despite the absence of precise pubertal data in retrospective cohorts.<\/p>\n

The study involved 63 patients aged 0 to 18 years, with a mean age at diagnosis of 14.5 years and a female predominance (77%). Thirteen patients were younger than 12 years (mean 8.7 years), while 50 were 12 years or older (mean 16 years). Striking differences emerged between these groups:<\/p>\n