ABSTRACT
Thyroid and parathyroid carcinoma are very unusual solid tumors for a variety of reasons. Thyroid neoplasms are not like other solid tumors as they are typically managed by endocrine surgeons, endocrinologists, and nuclear medicine physicians instead of surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and radiation therapists. Well-differentiated thyroid cancer is relatively resistant to treatment with standard chemotherapy agents and with external-beam radiation therapy. The only effective treatment apart from surgical resection is radioactive iodine and this agent is administered by a team of endocrinologists and nuclear medicine physicians working together. The second reason that thyroid cancer is unusual is that although it is by far the most common endocrine neoplasm, it varies from other endocrine tumors in that it is not generally hormonally active. Neoplasms of the parathyroid, adrenal, endocrine pancreas, and pituitary generally manifest symptoms based on abnormal hormone production and regulation. Thyroid tumors are typically silent in terms of hormone production and proteins that are released (thyroglobulin and calcitonin) do not cause any symptoms. Instead of dividing the treatment of thyroid cancer into surgical, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, it will be discussed in terms of surgery, treatment with radioactive iodine, with short sections on chemotherapy and external-beam radiation therapy.
