Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Managed at the Mayo Clinic during Six Decades (1940–1999): Temporal Trends in Initial Therapy and Long‐term Outcome in 2444 Consecutively Treated Patients

It is uncertain whether more extensive primary surgery and increasing use of radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) have resulted in improved rates of cause‐specific mortality (CSM) and tumor recurrence (TR). Details of the initial presentation, therapy, and outcome of 2444 PTC patients consecutively treated during 1940–1999 were recorded in a computerized database. Patients were followed for more than 43,000 patient‐years. The 25‐year rates for CSM and TR were 5% and 14%, respectively. Temporal trends were analyzed for six decades. During the six decades, the proportion with initial MACIS (distant Metastasis, patient Age, Completeness of resection, local Invasion, and tumor Size) scores