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Surgical management of medullary thyroid cancer

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Hellenic Journal of Surgery

Abstract

Medullary Thyroid cancer is a rare malignancy with aggressive behaviour, which can be either sporadic or hereditary. Diagnosis is based on measuring the serum calcitonin levels of patients with thyroid nodules or on screening for RET gene mutations of the first degree relatives of patients with hereditary MTC. Treatment is surgical and involves total thyroidectomy and central lymph node dissection in all diagnosed cases. Further lateral LN dissection should be performed when indicated and is further analyzed throughout the article. Postoperative observation includes biochemical markers of disease (calcitonin and CEA) as well as imaging studies when indicated. Recurrence rates are high because of early lymphatic metastases. However, the overall 5-year survival rates are also high.

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Correspondence to I. Koutelidakis.

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Koutelidakis, I., Kapoulas, S., Papaziogas, V. et al. Surgical management of medullary thyroid cancer. Hellenic J Surg 87, 58–62 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13126-015-0181-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13126-015-0181-x

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