There were no significant differences seen in any of the surgical pathology data although the history-defined data set analysis results approached significance in certain parameters: tumour in perithyroidal tissue/thyroid capsule penetration ( P = 0.08), multifocal disease ( P = 0.06), and bilateral disease (0.07).
Further, as FPTC may be a heterogeneous entity, there may be significant differences in the degree of aggressiveness between different families within any given report of cases, rendering comparisons in series with small numbers of families difficult.
Using the chi square by trend analysis, a significant trend was seen for the familial form of papillary thyroid cancer to possess more aggressive features than the sporadic disease.