Thyroid carcinoma is one of the malignant tumors with rapidly increasing incidence rates. Some refractory patients face challenges from drug toxicity and resistance, urgently requiring the discovery of new therapeutic pathways to improve prognosis. Regulatory cell death（RCD）is a highly regulated orderly death mode, including apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis. Recent studies have found that RCD is closely associated with tumor progression, invasion, and resistance. This article systematically reviewed various death modes in thyroid cancer, including the core signaling nodes of each death pathway, and explored their specific functions in tumor progression. It also summarized potential therapeutic strategies targeting these death pathways. However, the complexity of RCD mechanisms and the sensitivity of treatments remain controversial. Future efforts should focus on screening broad-spectrum targets and developing synergistic therapies to ultimately achieve precise treatment based on cell death, thereby improving the prognosis of refractory thyroid cancer.