Address for correspondence: Dr Sushmita Bhatnagar, 56/B, Venus Apartments, Worli Sea Face, Worli, Mumbai 400018.
E-mail - bhatnagar_s1206@yahoo.co.in

Abstract

Thyroid malignancies in children are a known and distinct entity, though is less common than the thyroid malignancies in adults. The children tend to be treated in a manner similar to the adults with thyroid cancers, although there are striking differences in the presentation, clinical behavior, the differentiation pattern of the tumor and the outcome of management. Since the number of affected children are scarce and dispersed over wide regions, it is difficult to study these tumors in great detail. This article provides a review and comparative analysis between the adult and pediatric thyroid malignancies, thus guiding us in formulating appropriate approach for children.

Introduction

The Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986 in USSR showed the world the gruesome picture of occurrence of thyroid cancers in children which was otherwise seen very rarely (1). According to the Chernobyl Forum, many years after the incident, about 4000 new cases of thyroid cancers occurred because the children consumed the cow's milk and the leafy vegetables contaminated with radioactive iodine, apart from the radiation effects of radioactive material on the thyroid (2).

In our clinical practice, albeit rarely, one does encounter nodules of the thyroid gland in children which could be malignant. Since not much of research in terms of prospective randomized trials has been undertaken for the malignancies of thyroid gland in children, it is still a subject less well understood by clinicians.