Open AccessMedullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Why Is Specialization Mandatory?
Author(s) -
Theresia Weber
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
visceral medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.598
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2297-475X
pISSN - 2297-4725
DOI - 10.1159/000493809
Subject(s) - medicine , calcitonin , thyroid carcinoma , medullary cavity , medullary carcinoma , dissection (medical) , medullary thyroid cancer , thyroid , lymph node , thyroidectomy , multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 , endocrine system , cancer , carcinoma , surgery , general surgery , oncology , pathology , hormone , biochemistry , germline mutation , mutation , gene , chemistry
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) represents a distinct form of thyroid cancer with a potentially aggressive behavior, early lymph node metastases, and sporadic as well as hereditary forms. Only surgery with total thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection is able to achieve biochemical cure. Due to the uncommon nature of MTC, a specialization in endocrine surgery for diagnosis as well as therapy of MTC seem to be mandatory for a successful treatment. Knowledge of genotype-phenotype correlations for hereditary forms or routine calcitonin screening for sporadic forms is important to analyze preoperative findings and plan surgical procedures. Postoperative follow-up depends on biochemical cure or monitoring for patients with elevated calcitonin levels.