Table 2.
Frequency of thyroid cancer in patients with single and multiple nodules
| Nodules per patienta | Patients (n) | Total nodules (n)a | Malignant nodules (n)a | Patients with cancer (n)a | Patients with microcancers (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solitary | 299 | 299 | 56 | 56 (18.7%)b | 37 (12.4%) |
| 2 | 306 | 612 | 116 | 79 (25.8%) | 43 (14.2%) |
| 3 | 224 | 672 | 111 | 70 (31.3%) | 41 (18.3%) |
| 4 or more | 197 | 842 | 141 | 74 (37.6%) | 15 (7.6%) |
| All multiples | 727 | 2126 | 368 | 223 (30.7%)b | 99 (13.6%) |
a
Excluding microscopic nodules (see Table 1).
b
P < 0.001 by χ2 analysis for single vs. multiple nodules.