Pittsburgh scientists and doctors are embarking on the first-ever clinical trial to determine if a genetic test they pioneered could successfully spare patients with nonaggressive thyroid cancer from complete removal of their thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that is important to hormone regulation and development. Such thyroid-preserving surgery minimizes surgical complications, and many patients also may avoid taking medication every day to keep thyroid hormone levels in check.
The two-year trial, which is entirely philanthropically funded by individual donors affected by thyroid cancer, will investigate whether the locally-developed molecular genetic test ThyroSeq can correctly differentiate between thyroid cancers most likely to spread and need complete removal of the thyroid gland, and those likely to be far less invasive, warranting a thyroid-preserving surgical approach.
Watch Linwah Yip, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery and principal investigator of the trial, discuss this study, and learn more here.
