Thyroid Cancer Review 1: Presentation and Investigation
Thyroid Cancer Review 1: Presentation and Investigation
Thyroid cancer is uncommon with an estimated lifetime risk of 0.8% for women and 0.3% for men. The incidence appears to be increasing by 4% per year and is currently the eighth commonest cancer in women. Managing thyroid cancer is challenging, as no prospective randomised trials exist. Most of the information is derived from large patient cohorts in which therapy has not been randomly assigned. This is the first of the three review papers we have written on the management of thyroid cancer.
This is the first of the three review papers we have written on thyroid cancer. This first paper will deal with the presentation and investigation of thyroid cancer, in the setting of a multidisciplinary team. The second paper will review the management of differentiated thyroid cancer, and the final paper will deal with the rare forms of thyroid cancer.
Thyroid cancer is the commonest malignant endocrine tumour but comprises only about 1% of all malignancies. Over 90% of thyroid cancers are of the follicular or papillary variants often termed differentiated thyroid cancer. The rare forms of thyroid cancer comprise medullary thyroid cancer arising form parafollicluar C-cells, thyroid lymphoma, anaplastic carcinoma, Hurthle-cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and the very rare intrathyroid sarcoma. Debate concerning initial investigation, treatment and follow-up of thyroid tumours still continues due to the paucity of prospective randomised trials. At present, investigation and management is based on large retrospective cohort studies.
Thyroid cancer is uncommon with an estimated lifetime risk of 0.8% for women and 0.3% for men. The incidence appears to be increasing by 4% per year and is currently the eighth commonest cancer in women. Managing thyroid cancer is challenging, as no prospective randomised trials exist. Most of the information is derived from large patient cohorts in which therapy has not been randomly assigned. This is the first of the three review papers we have written on the management of thyroid cancer.
This is the first of the three review papers we have written on thyroid cancer. This first paper will deal with the presentation and investigation of thyroid cancer, in the setting of a multidisciplinary team. The second paper will review the management of differentiated thyroid cancer, and the final paper will deal with the rare forms of thyroid cancer.
Thyroid cancer is the commonest malignant endocrine tumour but comprises only about 1% of all malignancies. Over 90% of thyroid cancers are of the follicular or papillary variants often termed differentiated thyroid cancer. The rare forms of thyroid cancer comprise medullary thyroid cancer arising form parafollicluar C-cells, thyroid lymphoma, anaplastic carcinoma, Hurthle-cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and the very rare intrathyroid sarcoma. Debate concerning initial investigation, treatment and follow-up of thyroid tumours still continues due to the paucity of prospective randomised trials. At present, investigation and management is based on large retrospective cohort studies.
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