Arch. Endocrinol. Metab. 2019;63(5):454-455
Active surveillance of thyroid microcarcinomas
DOI: 10.20945/2359-3997000000181
There is a recent trend in the thyroid cancer literature towards a more conservative approach to papillary microcarcinomas of the thyroid gland. The widespread acceptance of lobectomy as adequate treatment for most patients is part of this tendency. Undoubtedly, the most conservative attitude concerning these indolent cancers is the active surveillance, pioneered by Miyauchi and Ito in Japan (-) and already being used in other centers around the world (,). In the present issue of Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism , there are two excellent South American manuscripts addressing the approach to papillary carcinomas of the thyroid gland. I would like to congratulate the authors of both papers for their important contribution to the already existing controversy concerning the adoption of active surveillance for patients with these very small and usually (but not invariably) indolent cancers.
Based upon the formidable amount of data coming from the experience of University of Kuma, it is possible to delineate the possible candidates to active surveillance:
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