Updated guidelines on the preoperative staging of thyroid cancer.

Author: Hye Jung KIM ¹
Author Information

1. Department of Radiology, Kyungpook National University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea. mamrad@knu.ac.kr
Publication Type:Review
Keywords: Thyroid neoplasms; Neoplasm staging; Ultrasonography
MeSH: Classification; Joints; Muscles; Neoplasm Staging; Thyroid Gland*; Thyroid Neoplasms*; Ultrasonography
From: Ultrasonography 2017;36(4):292-299
CountryRepublic of Korea
Language:English
Abstract: Recent studies have provided prognostic information and recommendations for staging thyroid cancers that have changed the staging and management guidelines for the disease. Consequently, minimal extrathyroidal extension (ETE) was removed from the T3 stage classification in the eighth edition of the TNM staging system by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. New T categories have been subsequently added, including T3a, defined as a tumor >4 cm in its greatest dimension, limited to the thyroid gland, and T3b, defined as a tumor of any size with gross ETE invading only the strap muscles. In this article, the author reviews the changes in the TNM staging system for thyroid cancer, with an emphasis on ultrasonography in preoperative staging.