Thyroid Cancer

Because of its relative rarity and favorable outcome, it has not been feasible to assess medical interventions for thyroid cancer using randomized prospective trials. The approach to diagnosis and treatment relies to a great extent on information derived from retrospective studies. Overall prognosis and survival rates have been edging upward over the past two decades. This is attributed to a wider acceptance of total thyroidectomy as the primary surgical strategy. The appropriate indication of radioiodine therapy remains controversial, and physicians must be familiar with staging criteria to make educated decisions.
We are now beginning to understand the genetic mechanisms of thyroid tumor initiation and progression. There are still major challenges ahead. Thyroid Cancer provides comprehensive updates on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of thyroid neoplasms. Although the material should be of particular interest to scholars in the field, the contributors have striven to make it of practical use to physicians who treat patients with thyroid disease.

1. Epidemiology of Thyroid Cancer.- 2) Ionizing Radiation and Thyroid Cancer.- 3) Molecular Pathogenesis of Tumors of Thyroid Follicular Cells.- 4) Pathogenesis of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.- 5) Pathologic Features of Thyroid Tumors.- 6) Thyroid Nodules: Approaches to Diagnosis and Management.- 7) Pathogenesis and Treatment of Multinodular Goiter.- 8) Cytopathology of Thyroid Nodules.- 9) The Role of Medical Imaging in the Diagnosis and Follow-up of Recurrent or Metastatic Thyroid Cancer.- 10) Surgical Management of Thyroid Cancer.- 11) Thyroid Cancer: Impact of Therapeutic Modalities on Prognosis.- 12) Radioiodine and External Radiation Therapy in the Treatment of Thyroid Cancer.- 13) Rare Forms of Thyroid Cancer.- 14) Chemotherapy and Biological Therapy of Thyroid Cancer.