Mixed subtype thyroid cancer: A surveillance, epidemiology, and end results database analysis

Abstract

The prognosis of patients with mixed subtype thyroid cancer (MSTC) is unclear. The present study compared the prognoses of MSTC, papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) to provide a new perspective regarding the treatment guidelines for these diseases. We evaluated data from patients with thyroid cancer who were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2004 and 2013. Patient mortality was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses and Kaplan-Meier analyses with log-rank tests. The univariate Cox regression analysis showed that the cancer-specific survival rate for MSTC was lower than that for PTC and FTC. However, in the multivariate Cox regression analysis, the cancer-specific survival rate for MSTC was similar to that for PTC and FTC. Before matching influence factors, the cancer-specific survival rate for MSTC was lower than that for PTC and FTC. However, after propensity score matching for relevant factors, the cancer-specific survival rate for MSTC was also similar to that for PTC and FTC. Our result would be beneficial and provide a guideline for the understanding of MSTC.