2108 Cases of Thyroid Cancer: Cervical Lymph Node Dissection or Not

Abstract Based thyroid cancer data from patients treated in Liaocheng People’s Hospital from 2015 to 2018, with Chinese national and regional characteristics, in this study we addressed the controversy of which initial thyroid surgical mode, lobectomy or total thyroidectomy, is most effective. Clinical and pathological data from 2108 patients with thyroid cancer, who were initially diagnosed and treated surgically, were collected from the Department of Thyroid Surgery. The overall metastasis rate of all patients was 57.23%.With the increase of tumor diameter, the metastasis of cervical lymph nodes ranged from 22.54–73.33%, which showed positive correlation.49.32% of patients had lymph node metastasis in the lateral cervical region.When the diameter of the tumor reached T1c level, the metastasis of the cervical lymph nodes was 56.91%, and the number of metastatic cases above T1c level accounted for 69.96% of the total metastatic cases. It is recommended that initial treatment should comprise at least total thyroidectomy + central lymph node dissection in China, to avoid the risks associated with secondary surgery and effects on patient quality of life.When the tumor diameter exceeds 1 cm, the risk of cervical lymph node metastasis is high, we recommended the lateral lymph node dissection.