[Differentiated cancers].

A total of 119 papillary and 67 follicular thyroid carcinomas were subdivided according to the WHO classification of 1988 in the morphological subtypes of occult, encapsulated and invasive carcinomas. The patients were monitored over a followup period of 16 years postoperatively. Initially 10.6% of all patients with early follicular carcinoma had distant metastases and 2 of 19 died of carcinoma. In cases of early papillary carcinoma there were no distant metastases and no deaths. Limited thyroid surgery is recommended as curative surgery only for such patients.