Clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of the thyroid nodule and differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

Introduction: The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased during the last decades. A growing neck mass is the typical initial clinical presentation but most of these are benign in nature. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the malignant ones preoperatively; those nodules are the ones that require surgical management. Overall, we have a lack of well-conducted randomized controlled clinical trials so there is an important degree of heterogeneity in treatment on daily basis. Objectives: This Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) contains systematically developed recommendations to support clinicians, patients and carers, policy makers and other stakeholders in the diagnostic and management of patients with early, advanced and metastatic stages of Thyroid Cancer. Methodology: This document was an initiative of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Group at the Mexican Society of Oncology (SMEO) in collaboration with Mexican Center of Clinical Excellence (CENETEC) according to International Standards. Such standards were those being developed by IOM, NICE, SIGN and GI-N. An interdisciplinary Guideline Development Group (GDG) was put together and considered oncologist, oncologic surgeons, radiation therapist, and methodologists with expertise in critical appraisssal, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines development. Results: 45 clinical questions were agreed between the GDG. With the evidence identified from systematic reviews, GDG developed clinical recommendations using a Modified Delphi Panel technique. Patients' representatives validated them. Conclusions: This Clinical Practice Guideline aims to support share decision-making process for patients with different stages of Thyroid Cancer. Our goal is to improve health-care quality on these patients.