Thyroid Cancer Research

Pediatric thyroid cancer is the most common solid tumor endocrine malignancy in children and the second most common tumor in adolescent females. There are two main forms of thyroid cancer, differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) with DTC further divided into papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC).

The Thyroid Center’s clinical infrastructure is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team limited to one to two experts from seven specialties. The mission of the Thyroid Center is to provide unparalleled care to optimize outcome while reducing the potential medical and surgical complications of treatment.

Our research efforts are directly linked to this mission and cover a range of topics in our unwavering effort to improve the diagnosis, treatment and health of children and adolescents with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.

The efforts of investigators at the CCCR have resulted in:

  • Formation of a pediatric thyroid center dedicated to improving health and quality of life outcomes for children with thyroid cancer
  • Creation of a clinical database registry to continually monitor ways to improve patient care and thyroid cancer treatment outcomes
  • Incorporation of health-related quality of life surveys into clinical practice in an effort to understand the impact of diagnosis and treatment as well as identify opportunities to optimize resiliency and reduce anxiety
  • Research to aid in improved diagnosis of thyroid cancer and development of techniques to decrease risks associated with thyroid surgery, including; ultrasound characteristics that predict malignancy in thyroid nodules, intraoperative assessment of parathyroid hormone to predict post-operative hypoparathyroidism, and others
  • Identification of thyroid cancer variants with low-risk of invasion where remission can be achieved with less aggressive treatment
  • The role of DICER1 in the development of multinodular goiter and differentiated thyroid cancer in sporadic DTC as well as pleuropulmonary blastoma familial tumor predisposition syndrome
  • The creation of the first international guidelines on the evaluation and management of thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer in children and adolescents
  • Identification of thyroid cancer diagnosis and treatment in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder
  • Partnership with CHOP and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania oncologists to treat patients with refractory, progressive disease with an increasing list of systemic therapies, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, MEK inhibitors, and others

Ongoing efforts at the CCCR include:

  • Development of genetic and molecular panels and classifiers to more accurately distinguish between benign and malignant thyroid tumors and to better predict appropriate treatment regimens
  • Assessment of pre-operative thyroglobulin levels as a predictor of the degree of metastasis in patients with PTC
  • Assessment of neurocognitive function during alterations in thyroid hormone status associated with preparation for radioiodine treatment and during TSH-suppressive therapy
  • The investigation of ultrasound surveillance to determine if early identification of radiation induced thyroid cancer identifies disease at a lower stage
  • The dose-response and complication risk of radioiodine treatment in children and adolescents with PTC and Graves’ disease