[Causes of death in patients with medullary cancer of the thyroid. GETC. Groupe d'Etude des Tumeurs à Calcitonine].

OBJECTIVE

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is characterized by different clinical forms and a possible prolonged survival, despite presence of metastases. In the present study, we have studied the clinical and biological characteristics of 119 decreased MTC patients.

METHODS

Our data were retrieved retrospectively from the French medullary thyroid cancer study group (GETC).

RESULTS

Our results showed that the cause of death was basically MTC (87%) but not exclusively, depending on the clinical forms and the age. Patients with type IIb multiple endocrine meoplasia (MEN) died earlier from their carcinoma. Patients with type IIa MEN died of causes other than MTC, especially pheochromocytoma. Two-thirds of the patients with sporadic forms of MTC, died with advanced metastases, usually from MTC.

CONCLUSION

A significant number of deaths in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma result from non-cancerous causes. This study established the clinical and biological characteristics of patients at risk of death.