Papillary thyroid cancer: monitoring and therapy.
The last 10 years have seen a major paradigm shift in the management of thyroid cancer, with greater reliance on serum thyroglobulin and neck ultrasonography, and less emphasis on routine diagnostic whole-body radioactive iodine scanning for detection of recurrent disease. As our follow-up tests become more sensitive for detection of recurrent disease, we are finding many asymptomatic patients who have low-level persistent disease many years after initial therapy that may or may not benefit from additional testing and therapy. These difficult issues have been addressed by at least five different sets of guidelines published recently by various thyroid specialty organizations around the world. In this article, the authors compare and contrast the recommendations from the various guidelines in an attempt to define areas of consensus and explore possible reasons for differing recommendations.
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Zuckerman Building, Room 834, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA. tuttlem@mskcc.org
R Michael
RM
Tuttle
Rébecca
R
Leboeuf
Andrew J
AJ
Martorella
D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000628:therapy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012008:Recurrence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D013965:Thyroidectomy
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes