Dr Cabanillas on Delivering the "Right" Surgery to Patients With MTC

Maria E. Cabanillas, MD, an oncologic endocrinologist, tenured professor and the faculty director of clinical research in the Department of Endocrine Neoplasia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses how to deliver the optimal surgical approach to patients with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

As a clinician and clinical researcher, she treats patients with both early and advanced thyroid cancers, including medullary, differentiated, and anaplastic thyroid cancers. MTC accounts for 1% to 2% of all thyroid cancers. For patients with metastatic disease, the 5-year overall survival is less than 40%.

At present, thyroidectomy is the only curative option for patients with MTC. Unfortunately, she says that many patients do not get the "right" surgery. She said that surgeons want to see good imaging, including a CT scan of the neck with contrast, before proceding with surgery.