When is medullary thyroid carcinoma "medullary thyroid carcinoma"?

Thyroid cancer

There have been important recent advances in our understanding of the biologic nature of thyroid cancer and in the early diagnosis of the disease. Despite these advances, there is still considerable controversy over the management of thyroid cancer, including the extent of surgery, the indications for the use of iodine-131, the effectiveness of thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression, and the prediction of outcome. In this review, the current status of the diagnosis and management of the various types of thyroid cancer are carefully reviewed and extensively documented.

[Surgery of metastases of differentiated thyroid cancers]

84 (19.5%) of 431 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer developed distant metastases in bone and parenchymal organs. 78% of primary bone metastases and only 21% of primary lung metastases were treated operatively. High survival rates of 33-60% at 5 years supported the necessity of surgical interventions primarily in bone metastases to prevent early morbidity due to pathological fractures. Even in case of questionable increase in survival rate surgery of metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinomas doubtlessly improves the quality of life in these patients.