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Comprehensive medullary thyroid carcinoma guidelines developed
American Thyroid Association compiled 122 evidence-based recommendations.
The American Thyroid Association recently developed 122 evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. The recommendations are intended to aid in the clinical care of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma and to share current, rational and optimal medical practice.
A panel of expert clinicians updated the medullary thyroid carcinoma literature and combined it with evidence-based medicine by identifying relevant articles through a PubMed search and supplemental published literature. Using criteria adapted from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality the panel developed and categorized the recommendations.
According to Richard T. Kloos, MD, co-director of the Ohio State University Thyroid Cancer Unit in Columbus, the hope is that the ATA guidelines will serve all professionals who care for those with medullary thyroid carcinoma, including those in the fields of endocrinology, genetics, pediatrics, radiology, nuclear medicine, surgery and oncology.
The recommendations address topics including diagnosis and therapy for early disease, genetic testing, surgical management and long-term follow-up, according to a press release.
“These evidence-based guidelines will become a benchmark for patient management and clinical research, as they illuminate the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies required when caring for gravely ill patients and those in the anxiety-ridden early stages of the disease and when offering testing and counseling to family members,” Charles H. Emerson, MD, professor emeritus at University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, said in a press release.
The guidelines appear in Thyroid, the ATA’s peer-reviewed journal, and online at www.liebertpub.com/thy, where they are available at no charge.
Kloos RT. Thyroid. 2009;19:565-612.