%0 Journal Article %T A meta-analysis examining the independent association between thyroid nodule size and malignancy %A Hammad, AbdulRahman Y. %A Noureldine, Salem I. %A Hu, Tian %A Ibrahim, Yasin %A Masoodi, Hammad M. %A Kandil, Emad %J Gland Surgery %D 2015 %B 2015 %9 %! A meta-analysis examining the independent association between thyroid nodule size and malignancy %K %X Background: Tumor size is recognized as an important predictor of malignancy in many types of cancers. However, there is no clear line of characterization when it comes to the association between thyroid nodule size and malignancy risk prediction; and the current data remains inconsistent across different studies. The aim of our study is to examine the association between nodule size and malignancy using meta-analysis of the current literature. Methods: Data sources were gathered through systemic search of PubMed, Embase and other scientific databases for articles published between January 1, 1996 and June 1, 2013. A reference group with nodule sizes Results: Seven studies met our inclusion criteria with 10,817 thyroid nodules evaluated. Malignancy was identified in 2,206 (20.4%) nodules. After adjusting for patient age and gender, nodules that measured 3- 5.9 cm had a 26% greater malignancy risk compared to those measuring Conclusions: Thyroid nodule size predicts cancer risk. However, a threshold effect of thyroid nodule size 6 cm or greater is significantly associated with a more benign disease. %U https://gs.amegroups.org/article/view/8661 %V 5 %N 3 %P 312-317 %@ 2227-8575