Richtlijn schildkliercarcinoom inclusief diagnostiek van de nodus

• Thyroid cancer is comparatively rare. Thyroid nodules, on the other hand, are frequently diagnosed as a result of increasing use of diagnostic imaging.
• Cytological investigation of small nodules that have been found by chance often reveals micropapillary carcinoma that is probably not clinically relevant.
• The new guideline ‘Thyroid cancer’ advises that cytological investigation of these non-palpable, incidentally discovered thyroid nodules should only be performed on indication.
• The standard treatment for patients with papillary or follicular thyroid cancer consists of thyroidectomy followed by, if indicated, lymph-node dissection, ablation therapy with radioactive iodine and TSH-suppression. The extent of this treatment is determined on the basis of known prognostic factors and the results of initial treatment.
• Targeted systemic therapy is available for patients with metastatic progressive disease.
• There is more focus on the effects of short- and long-term treatment, in order to optimise quality of life.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.