The American Thyroid Association has released new guidelines for the management of adult patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), the most prevalent cancer of the thyroid.

The new guidelines, developed by an ATA task force led by Co-Chairs Matthew Ringel, MD, from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and Julie Ann Sosa, MD, from the University of California San Francisco, include input from a large, diverse complement of stakeholders. 

The panel included members from multiple specialties involved in thyroid cancer care, including a patient advocate and an expert in systematic reviews/meta-analyses/guidelines who educated and supported task force members. 

Jacqueline Jonklaas, MD, PhD, ATA President, noted that “ATA leadership is grateful to the task force members, ably lead by Drs. Ringel and Sosa, for this superlative clinical practice guideline that I believe will help set the standard of care for future generations of patients with thyroid cancer.”

These revised guidelines begin with the initial cancer diagnosis and continue with recommendations for staging and risk assessment; initial treatment decisions; assessment of treatment responses; monitoring approaches; diagnostic testing; and subsequent therapies based on the strength of evidence for response and consideration of side-effects and outcomes. 

Patient-reported outcomes, thyroid cancer survivorship, and identified areas of need for additional high-quality research are highlighted. “This thyroid cancer guideline continues the ATA’s leadership in providing high quality and evidence-based guidelines which provide thoughtful guidance to clinicians taking care of patients with thyroid cancer,” said Christopher McCabe, PhD, ATA Secretary and Chief Operating Officer.

Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News