In the presence of cancer, the assessment of the risks of failure (continuation of the disease, relapse) , is  essential and will guide the choice of treatments.

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The risk factors are multiple and depend on the type of tumor, its progressive stage (size, extension outside the  thyroid  gland) and age (left table).

This risk assessment related to cancer is updated at each stage of treatment based on new information provided by the operation and the various analyses  post-operative (table on the right).

 

Most cancers currently treated are low-risk cancers, which means cure and very oftenpossibility conservative treatment of part of the thyroid gland.

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When the cancer is "intermediate risk" the recommended treatment will be a total thyroidectomy which allows the use of radioactive iodine for treatment and monitoring. The prognosis for these cancers remains very favorable with a very good quality of life.

 

Below is a graph from the ATA showing the criteria which allow a cancer to be classified into one of the 3 risk levels.

Communication at the Soc Fr ENT and Face and Neck Surgery congress, Prof J SANTINI, Paris, October 2020