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Prophylactic Central Neck Dissection in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: An Assessment of the Evidence

  • Endocrine Tumors
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An area of ongoing controversy in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer is the role of prophylactic central neck dissection (pCND). This review describes the natural history of differentiated thyroid cancer and provides the limited data regarding the role of routine pCND. An evidence-based analysis was performed of the rationale for routine pCND was performed, including reduced rates of central neck recurrence, reduced morbidity with secondary central neck lymphadenectomy, improved rates of postoperative athyroglobulinemia, and improved stratification of radioactive iodine (RAI) dosage. A critical appraisal of the available literature demonstrates insufficient evidence to indicate that this extra procedure performed routinely leads to improvement in clinically meaningful end points.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    David E. Gyorki MD & Brian Untch MD

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    R. Michael Tuttle MD

  3. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Ashok R. Shaha MD

Authors
  1. David E. Gyorki MD
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  2. Brian Untch MD
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  3. R. Michael Tuttle MD
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  4. Ashok R. Shaha MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David E. Gyorki MD.

Additional information

David E. Gyorki and Brian Untch contributed equally to this article, and both should be considered first author.

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Gyorki, D.E., Untch, B., Tuttle, R.M. et al. Prophylactic Central Neck Dissection in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: An Assessment of the Evidence. Ann Surg Oncol 20, 2285–2289 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-013-2897-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-013-2897-6

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