Screening for Thyroid Cancer in Patients With Familial Adenomatous Polyposis

Abstract

Clarify the incidence of thyroid cancer in patients with Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) in a prospective study of thyroid neck US screening. FAP is a hereditary disease predisposing to cancer in multiple organs, including the thyroid. However, routine thyroid screening for FAP patients is not generally practiced in the United States. Here, we report the initial results of a prospective thyroid cancer screening program in patients with FAP. At the time of yearly gastrointestinal follow-up, every FAP patient in our registry was offered thyroid ultrasound (US) performed by experienced endocrine surgeons. Clinical findings related to thyroid disease were analyzed for those patients who completed screening from August 2008 to December 2009. : Of 192 screened FAP patients, 72 (38%) had thyroid nodules and 5 (2.6%) had thyroid cancer. Three of 5 patients with FAP and thyroid cancer were women. Four of 5 patients had the multifocal papillary type with mean size 15 mm. Clinical history and neck exam did not detect any of the 5 cancers. The incidence of thyroid cancer among FAP patients is high. Medical history and exam are inadequate to identify patients with thyroid cancer, thus thyroid screening with US is warranted.