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External Beam Radiotherapy for Thyroid Cancer

  • Chapter
Management of Thyroid Cancer

Part of the book series: Head and Neck Cancer Clinics ((HNCC))

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Abstract

Treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) most often involves a combination of surgery, radioactive iodine (RAI) and suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). In specific situations, external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) could be of benefit, although this remains controversial because of a lack of randomized evidence to support its use. In contrast, EBRT is of standard use in the multimodal management of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) with surgery and systemic agents. Despite this, outcomes remain poor, supporting the need for additional research of this devastating disease. This chapter focuses on the role of EBRT in DTC and ATC.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Oncology, CancerCare Manitoba, 675 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 0V9, Canada

    Harvey Quon

Authors
  1. Harvey Quon
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Correspondence to Harvey Quon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada

    K. Alok Pathak

  2. Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Cancer Care Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Richard W. Nason

  3. Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Janice L. Pasieka

Commentary

Commentary

K. Alok Pathak

Treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) involves surgery with suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), often, in combination with radioactive iodine. The benefit from adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) remains controversial in DTC. EBRT has a potential role in older patients with non-iodine-avid residual disease or for extensive pT4 disease with extensive extranodal spread, even in the absence of evident post-surgical residual disease. However, the benefits of EBRT need to be weighed against the acute and longterm toxicities of radiotherapy. EBRT plays a central role in the management of anaplastic thyroid cancer, either alone or in combination with surgery and systemic agents. To enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy, altered fractionation and a combination of radiotherapy and systemic agents have been tried.

Dr Quon has reviewed the available evidence in the literature on the relevance of radiotherapy in the treatment of thyroid cancer, and summarized the guidelines of the British Thyroid Association and American Thyroid Association on the role of EBRT in this disease.

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© 2015 K. Alok Pathak, Richard W. Nason, Janice L. Pasieka, Rehan Kazi, Raghav C. Dwivedi

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Quon, H. (2015). External Beam Radiotherapy for Thyroid Cancer. In: Pathak, K., Nason, R., Pasieka, J. (eds) Management of Thyroid Cancer. Head and Neck Cancer Clinics. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2434-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2434-1_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2433-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2434-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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