What is the Treatment of Medullary Thyroid Cancer?
In 2011, the American Cancer Society estimated that 48,020 new cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed in the United States (36,550 in women and 11,470 in men)
Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor of the parafollicular or C cells of the thyroid gland. MTC accounts for approximately four percent of thyroid carcinomas. A characteristic feature of this tumor is the production of calcitonin. In addition, the C cells originate from the embryonic neural crest; as a result, medullary carcinomas often have the clinical and histologic features of other neuroendocrine tumors such as carcinoid and islet-cell tumors.
Genetic screening in sporadic Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC) — Some patients with apparently sporadic MTC have unsuspected germline RET mutations (the underlying defect in MEN2) and, therefore, heritable disease. We therefore agree with the 2009 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Management of Medullary Thyroid Cancer that all patients with C cell hyperplasia or MTC be offered germline RET testing
Staging of Thyroid Cancer:
STAGING — The pTNM criteria for clinicopathologic tumor staging adopted by The Union International Contre le Cancer (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) are based upon tumor size and the presence or absence of extrathyroidal invasion, local and regional nodal metastases, and distant metastases:
Stage I — MTCs that are less than 2 cm in diameter without evidence of disease outside of the thyroid gland
Stage II — any tumor between 2 and 4 cm without evidence of extrathyroidal disease
Stage III — any tumor greater than 4 cm, or level VI nodal metastases or microscopic extrathyroidal invasion regardless of tumor size
Stage IV — any distant metastases, or lymph node involvement outside of level VI, or gross soft tissue extension
SURGICAL THERAPY — Total thyroidectomy is the preferred initial treatment for patients with MTC. Up to 30 percent of patients with sporadic MTC and all patients with inherited MTC have bilateral or multifocal disease
Here, Dr. Tony Talebi discusses the general concepts of “What is Thyroid Cancer?” with Dr. Kim, assistant professor of endocrinology at the University of Miami and co-leader of thyroid disease group. The discussion includes Thyroid cancer prognosis, what causes Thyroid cancer, signs of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer symptoms, Thyroids cancer, Thyroid cancer stage 4, treatment of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer association, stage four Thyroid cancer, small cell Thyroid cancer, symtoms of Thyroid cancer, causes of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer chemotherapy, what is Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancers, Thyroid cancer information, Thyroid cancer prevention, stage 4 Thyroid cancer, information about Thyroid cancer, stage iv Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer signs, Thyroid cancer symptom, is Thyroid cancer curable, stage 3b Thyroid cancer, Thyroids cancer symptoms, survival rates for Thyroid cancer, symptoms of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer survivors, Thyroid cancer symptons, Thyroid cancer survival, treatments of Thyroid cancer, symptons of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer statistics, non small cell Thyroid cancer, chemo for Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer survival rate, large cell Thyroid cancer, effects of Thyroid cancer, Thyroid cancer screening, Thyroid cancer diagnosis, Thyroid cancer societ Thyroid cancer clinical trials, Thyroid cancer metastasis, survival rate Thyroid cancer, symptom of Thyroid cancer, info on Thyroid cancer, new treatments for Thyroid cancer, how common is Thyroid cancer, radioactive iodine for thyroid cancer.
Dr. Brian Kim’s credentials:
Certifications
·American Board of Internal Medicine-Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism
Specialties
·Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
·Internal Medicine
Roles
·Assistant Professor
·Co-Leader, Thyroid Cancer Site Disease Group
Biography
Brian W. Kim, MD, was educated at Harvard College and received his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He did his endocrinology fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and subsequently joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School in 2004. Dr. Kim relocated to the University of Miami in early 2009, where he has established a research lab studying the mechanisms underlying thyroid hormone's effects on energy expenditure. His clinical interests focus on thyroid disease, with an emphasis on the treatment of thyroid cancer.
