If your child's thyroid cancer did not respond to traditional treatments, like radioactive iodine, it can be scary. We're here to help.

We are the only pediatric hospital in the United States with an established clinic dedicated to treating refractory thyroid cancer in children and adolescents.

Our endocrinologists and oncologists deeply understand the complexities of difficult-to-treat pediatric thyroid cancer. Our comprehensive clinic has a lot of experience caring for this unique patient population. We see multiple patients each month with treatment-resistant and progressive pediatric thyroid cancer.

We have experience treating children with:

• Papillary thyroid cancer
• Follicular thyroid cancer (including Hurthle cell carcinoma)
• Medullary thyroid cancer
• Poorly differentiated thyroid cancer

The high volume of patients we evaluate and treat has helped our team understand when and how to use cutting-edge, targeted therapies.

Unique blend of experts

Our experts each offer unique expertise that add to the overall care of patients with advanced thyroid cancer in this multidisciplinary clinic.

Andrew J. Bauer, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in the evaluation and treatment of thyroid cancer in children. He serves as Co-chair of the American Thyroid Association’s Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Taskforce for the evaluation and management of differentiated thyroid cancer in children.

Theodore W. Laetsch, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in the evaluation and treatment of rare tumors and in developmental therapeutics. Dr. Laetsch leads several multicenter clinical trials of targeted therapies for cancer patients with advanced disease, including those whose tumors are driven by alterations in the RET, NTR and ALK genes.

Sogol (Goli) Mostoufi-Moab, MD, MSCE, is dual-board certified in pediatric endocrinology and oncology, and an internationally recognized expert in the evaluation and management of patients with endocrine complications associated with cancer therapy.

Collaborative care

We work closely with several CHOP specialty programs, including the Very Rare Malignant Tumor Program, the Endocrine Late Effects after Cancer Therapy (ELECT) Program and the Cancer Predisposition Program. We also draw upon experts in Radiology, Pathology and Genomic Diagnostics, as needed.

Clinical studies

The Advanced Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Therapeutics Clinic, in conjunction with the Developmental Therapeutics Program, maintains a robust portfolio of active clinical research trials. Children under our care are offered participation in clinical trials based on their specific situations and individual needs.

Molecular profiling

Every thyroid cancer at CHOP undergoes comprehensive oncogene testing. (An oncogene is a gene with a mutation that has the potential to cause cancer.) This enables the thyroid team to refer back to the patient’s primary tumor at any point during the patient’s treatment and use the information to select the most effective systemic chemotherapy.

This precision medicine, sometimes referred to as "omics," is particularly important in treating patients whose cancer has spread (metastasized) from the thyroid to the lungs and/or bones. These patients have a higher risk of not reaching full remission of their thyroid cancer and developing progressive disease despite standard therapies.

Translational Research Lab

Research in the Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Translational Research Lab, led by Aime Franco, PhD, focuses on determining the genetic and molecular features that drive normal cells to transform into cancer cells (tumorigenesis) in pediatric patients. The lab's goal is to improve diagnosis, predict response to therapy and identify therapeutic options to optimize outcome. The CHOP Thyroid Center translational science program is the largest lab in the world dedicated to the study of pediatric thyroid cancer.

Child and Adolescent Thyroid Consortium

CHOP's Pediatric Thyroid Center was also the driving force behind the creation of the Child and Adolescent Thyroid Consortium (CATC), a collaborative effort between pediatric thyroid centers in North America and throughout the global pediatric thyroid community.

Through CATC, clinicians caring for pediatric patients with thyroid disease share information and work together. The consortium's goal is to improve our understanding of the outcomes of current care and to find ways to improve care for children and adolescents with a range of thyroid diseases. In addition to thyroid cancer, the CATC also studies thyroid hormone resistance syndromes, autoimmune thyroid disease and thyroid nodules.