[Clinical guideline for management of patients with low risk differentiated thyroid carcinoma]

Incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing in Spain and worldwide. Overall thyroid cancer survival is very high, and stratification systems to reliably identify patients with worse prognosis have been developed. However, marked differences exist between the different specialists in clinical management of low-risk patients with thyroid carcinoma. Almost half of all papillary thyroid carcinomas are microcarcinomas, and 90% are tumors < 2 cm that have a particularly good prognosis. However, they are usually treated more aggressively than needed, despite the lack of adequate scientific support. Surgery remains the gold standard treatment for these tumors. However, lobectomy may be adequate in most patients, without the need for total thyroidectomy. Similarly, prophylactic lymph node dissection of the central compartment is not required in most cases. This more conservative approach prevents postoperative complications such as hypoparathyroidism or recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Postoperative radioiodine remnant ablation and strict suppression of serum thyrotropin, although effective for the more aggressive forms of thyroid cancer, have not been shown to be beneficial for the treatment of low risk patients, and may impair their quality of life. This guideline provides recommendations from the task force on thyroid cancer of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition for adequate management of patients with low-risk thyroid cancer.