Surgical management of differentiated papillary and follicular thyroid cancer

Abstract

The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased in Greece and also in other countries of Europe. These developments led the Greek Society of Endocrine Surgeons to establish practice guidelines defining the optimal surgical treatment options that are available for the various disease entities and tumour classifications. These guidelines are the outcome of everyday practice with our patients and have been publicised by several surgical societies around the world from 2006 until the present day. The guidelines were developed on the basis of clinical findings in comparison with international treatment recommendations over the past eight years. Published treatment recommendations for thyroid cancer where reviewed and analyzed, taking into consideration the specificities of each country and continent. The practice guidelines for the surgical management of differentiated papillary and follicular thyroid cancer include recommendations for the preoperative evaluation and classification, surgical strategies, extent of thyroidectomy, clinical and histopathological features, extent of lymph node dissection and postoperative follow-up. These evidence-based recommendations for surgical management of differentiated papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, according to tumour type, stage, progression, and inherent surgical risk, are treatment pillars for the endocrine surgeon and all multidisciplinary teams.