Thyroid and Parathyroid Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment Services

Our multidisciplinary program offers a full range of services for the diagnosis and treatment of endocrine malignancies. Our oncology team works in tandem with our colleagues in interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, endocrine surgery and endocrinology to bring you the best care. Some of these services include:

Surgery

• Thyroid surgery, including lobectomy, total thyroidectomy and near-total thyroidectomy options depending on each patient's unique situation
• Removal of lymph nodes in the neck when cancer has spread
• Minimally invasive surgery and less invasive surgery, including robotic- or laparoscopic-assisted surgery for removal of gastrointestinal endocrine tumors
• Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy) for the treatment of cancers located in the pancreas or duodenum

Nuclear Medicine/Interventional Radiology

• Fine-needle aspiration for thyroid biopsy
• Thyroid scan (radioactive iodine uptake test)
• Radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment to destroy remaining thyroid tissue left over after surgery or to target thyroid cancer spread elsewhere in the body. This treatment may also be used for other, benign thyroid conditions.

Endocrinology

• Thyroid hormone therapy to help benign conditions or prevent cancer from returning

Chemotherapy

• Oral or infused drugs for rare forms of thyroid cancer
• Targeted therapy options for cancers that do not to respond to surgery and radioactive iodine
• Chemoembolization, or chemotherapy injected into the artery that supplies blood to the liver
• Oral medications that could control the growth of tumors and symptoms caused by tumor-related hormones
• Clinical trials, including national, multi-institution studies and local trials designed by our physician experts

Radiation

• External beam radiation to treat some forms of thyroid cancer untreatable with radioiodine therapy and to relieve pain from gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors that have spread to other areas of the body
• Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) to treat carcinoid tumors of the liver