Introduction:

Thyroid cancer, considered one of the most frequent malignant tumors of the endocrine system, accounts for 80%-90% of cases. The most common histological type observed in most studies is papillary cancer.

Objective:

To determine the frequency of thyroid cancer in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of the Hospital de Clínicas between the period 2018-2022.

Methodology:

This retrospective study included 260 patients treated during the study period. Data were obtained from the patients' medical records, and sociodemographic and clinical variables related to thyroid cancer were analyzed. Data were analyzed with the SPSS v25 program, using descriptive statistics.

Results:

The frequency of thyroid cancer was 48.1%. The mean age of the cancer patients was 42.10±13.10 years. A higher frequency was observed in females 34.2%, n=89) and among those aged 25-44 years 20.0%, n=52). The most frequent were papillary (36.9%), follicular (2.7%), medullary (1.5%), and anaplastic (1.2%) types.

Discussion:

The frequency of thyroid cancer is high; it is more common in women and as age increases.