Treatment

Treatment

When medullary carcinoma is diagnosed, staging of the neck and chest should be performed. For patients with disease confined to the thyroid, total thyroidectomy is recommended to remove all C cells with elective dissection of the central neck nodes. If there is evidence of nodal metastases, gross disease should be excised but the surgeon should be mindful of morbidity . Such patients are highly likely to develop recurrent disease, hence a pragmatic approach should be adopted (see Chapter 56 ). Treatment

When medullary carcinoma is diagnosed, staging of the neck and chest should be performed. For patients with disease confined to the thyroid, total thyroidectomy is recommended to remove all C cells with elective dissection of the central neck nodes. If there is evidence of nodal metastases, gross disease should be excised but the surgeon should be mindful of morbidity . Such patients are highly likely to develop recurrent disease, hence a pragmatic approach should be adopted (see Chapter 56 ).