# Differentiated and anaplastic thyroid cancer staging (AJCC chapter 73)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/thyroid-differentiated-staging/  
OnCo record `thyroid-differentiated-staging` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Papillary and follicular thyroid cancer are staged differently by age: under 55 there are only stages I and II, while from 55 the stage runs from I to IV by size and spread.

## Summary

AJCC chapter 73 covers differentiated and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma and is an 8th edition chapter in the AJCC 2026 table. In the NCI's summary, staging depends on the type of thyroid cancer and the person's age. For papillary and follicular cancer under 55, stage I is a tumour of any size that may have spread to nearby tissue and nodes, and stage II is distant spread. From 55, stage I is cancer in the thyroid only of 4 cm or less; stage III is spread into soft tissue, oesophagus, trachea, larynx or the recurrent laryngeal nerve; stage IVA is spread in front of the spine or around the carotid artery; stage IVB is spread to distant sites such as lungs or bones. Anaplastic and medullary cancers have their own stages. The stage descriptions are those in the National Cancer Institute's PDQ summary, which follows the AJCC tables.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: thyroid cancer staging; papillary thyroid cancer staging; follicular thyroid cancer staging

## Sources

- National Cancer Institute, Thyroid cancer treatment (PDQ), patient version: stages: https://www.cancer.gov/types/thyroid/patient/thyroid-treatment-pdq
- American College of Surgeons, AJCC Current Staging System 2026 (which chapters are 8th edition and which Version 9): https://www.facs.org/media/c5ik5tkr/ajcc-current-staging-system-2026.pdf

## Connected records

- terms: [AJCC stage (TNM staging manual)](https://onco.cc/terms/ajcc-stage/), [Disease-specific staging and risk systems (FIGO, Ann Arbor, IPI, R-ISS, ELN, IMDC)](https://onco.cc/terms/staging-systems/), [TI-RADS (Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System)](https://onco.cc/terms/ti-rads/), [TNM staging](https://onco.cc/terms/tnm-staging/)
- cancers: [Thyroid cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/thyroid/)

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