Histopathological Pattern of Thyroid Cancers in Zaria: A 10‑Year Review

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is a relatively rare malignancy representing only 1.5% of all cancers worldwide. However, it is the most common endocrine cancer globally and accounts for 92% of all endocrine malignancies. The annual incidence of thyroid cancer varies worldwide from 0.5 to 10/100,000 populations. This is an analysis of thyroid cancers diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study carried out between January 2005 and December 2014. All the cases diagnosed with thyroid cancers within the period formed the study materials. Patient’s biodata were retrieved from request cards. All histology slides stained with routine hematoxylin and eosin were retrieved and fresh sections made from formalin‑fixed, paraffin‑embedded stored tissue blocks where necessary. Results: Thyroid cancers constituted 4.6% of the total thyroid specimens submitted for histology during the study. The peak age of occurrence was between 21 and 30 years with a male‑to‑female ratio of 1:2.5. There were 14 thyroid cancer cases. Ten (71.4%) of the 14 thyroid cancer cases seen were papillary carcinoma, two cases (14.3%) were follicular carcinoma, and a case each (7.1%) of medullary and undifferentiated carcinoma. Conclusion: Thyroid cancer in our locality is uncommon. It is also more common in females and occurs predominantly within the third to fifth decades of life. Furthermore, the most common histologic variant in this environment is the papillary variant of the malignancy.