What is it about?
Until now, growth of a thyroid nodule was not considered helpful in determining risk of cancer, because both benign and cancerous thyroid nodules grow over time. However, it was unclear if both benign and cancerous nodules grow at the same rate. This study was the first to demonstrate that cancerous nodules grow faster than benign nodules, thus reintroducing growth as an important clinical factor in thyroid nodule evaluation.
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Why is it important?
Growth of a thyroid nodule over time is now important to follow, as significant growth signals a much higher risk that a thyroid nodule will prove cancerous. Conversely, a stable or smaller thyroid nodule over time signals a very high chance of a benign process.
Perspectives
As ultrasound is now widely used for precise evaluation of most thyroid nodules, the ability to track growth over time is possible. This will allow this factor to be reintroduced into the multi-variable assessment of thyroid nodular disease
Erik Alexander
Harvard University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Differential Growth Rates of Benign versus Malignant Thyroid Nodules, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, October 2017, Endocrine Society,
DOI: 10.1210/jc.2017-01832.
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