Open AccessPrimary versus Tertiary Care Follow-Up of Low-Risk Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Real-World Comparison of Outcomes and Costs for Patients and Health Care Systems
Author(s) -
Syed Ali Imran,
Karen Chu,
Murali Rajaraman,
Drew Rajaraman,
Sunita Ghosh,
Sarah De Brabandere,
Stéphanie Kaiser,
Stan Van Uum
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european thyroid journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.23
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 2235-0802
pISSN - 2235-0640
DOI - 10.1159/000494835
Subject(s) - medicine , tertiary care , thyroid cancer , primary care , health care , clinical endpoint , thyroid , cancer , pediatrics , family medicine , economics , economic growth , clinical trial
An unprecedented rise in the prevalence of low-risk well-differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) has been reported in several countries, which is partly due to an increased utility of sensitive imaging techniques. The outcome of these cancers has generally remained excellent and the overall 5-year survival is almost 100%. However, the extended follow-up strategy for these patients remains unclear and while the initial management is done in specialist centres some experts opt to follow them on a long-term basis while others discharge them to primary care after the initial management. The effectiveness of one strategy versus the other has not been studied.