Can Calcitonin Levels Guide Prophylactic Neck Dissection in Sporadic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma?

ABSTRACT

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) comprises less than 5% of thyroid cancers but is responsible for over 10% of deaths related to thyroid cancer. Regional lymph node metastasis is common and associated with mortality, thus total thyroidectomy with central compartment lymph node dissection is the standard surgical treatment for MTC. In this best practice submission, we aim to review the existing literature and determine whether calcitonin levels can serve as a reliable method for risk-stratifying MTC without overt lymph node involvement.