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The thyroid cancer overdiagnosis issue

8/31/2015

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Dr Tuttle is one of the leading world experts in thyroid cancer and its always worth listening to anything he has to say about thyroid cancer. Here's an interview with him in which he talks about the potential overdiagnosis of small papillary thyroid cancers. Informative and sensible stuff.
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New Q&A

8/27/2015

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Just to let you know we've posted a new Q & A today.
Hope it helps.
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Daffodil Day

8/20/2015

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Another inspiring story, and a reminder to think about the Cancer Council's Daffodil Day (www.daffodilday.com.au)

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Nuclear power plant re-opens - will thyroid cancer cases follow?

8/15/2015

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I was struck by the announcement of the re-opening of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan. This is the first to re-open since the horrific Tsunami in Japan and subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.

Exposure to increased levels of radiation from nuclear accidents, such as Chernobyl in 1986, is known to increase the chance of thyroid cancer, especially in children and adolescents.

Even though I have experienced an earthquake that caused significant damage and loss of life in Christchurch, intensely painful though that was, I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for those in Japan who lived through what they did in 2011. It's too early to tell how many people in Japan will develop thyroid cancer as a result of the Fukushima accident. 

My thoughts are with them today.
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New drugs for advanced thyroid cancer?

8/1/2015

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I'm often asked 'what's new' for those with advanced thyroid cancer. Whilst the majority of thyroid cancers are cured or controlled with surgery alone or with surgery and radioiodine, there are some patients whose disease doesn't respond as well as hoped to these treatments. For this group the focus of care moves more towards controlling symptoms. 
However, there have been a number of new drugs that are being developed in the hope that they may extend survival, with an acceptable pattern of side effects, in this group of patients for whom treatment options are limited. Some of these drugs have been disappointing, but there are signs of some emerging that may be useful options. 
I think these are as yet still a long way off ideal, but that they are a big step in the right direction.
For a example, here's a recent press article on one of them (Lenvatinib) from the Daily Mail (apologies again for the tabloid links) and also a summary of the New England Journal of Medicine article that the press story refers to. This tells some of the story of the fairly modest benefit and the pattern of side effects that such drugs can cause. Weighing up the potential benefit vs the potential harm of these drugs is currently tricky. Hopefully, further drug development will lead to options that offer clear net benefit. 

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    Dr Tom Cawood
    Physician/Endocrinologist

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