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1: Oncology (Williston Park). 2002 Mar;16(3):309-15; discussion 315, 318, 323-4.Links

Current approaches to the treatment of well-differentiated thyroid cancer.

Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.

The management of well-differentiated thyroid cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach. The majority of patients are diagnosed only after a nodule is palpable. A cytologic evaluation can readily diagnose a papillary thyroid carcinoma but a follicular carcinoma requires determination of capsular or vascular invasion. Surgical considerations in well-differentiated thyroid cancer are frequently complicated by the need to operate on patients with indeterminate nodules. Also, the extent of surgery remains controversial. A total or near-total thyroidectomy has several advantages: (1) radioactive iodine can be used to ablate any residual thyroid tissue or cancer cells; (2) thyroglobulin levels can be used to follow a patient for recurrence; (3) the risk of leaving a focus of carcinoma in the remaining lobe is eliminated.

PMID: 15046390 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Patient Drug Information

  • Thyroid (Armour® Thyroid)

    Thyroid is a hormone produced by the body. When taken correctly, thyroid is used to treat the symptoms of hypothyroidism (a condition where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone). Symptoms of hypothyr...