External beam radiotherapy for differentiated thyroid cancer

Meadows, Kenyon M.; Amdur, Robert J.; Morris, Christopher G.; Villaret, Douglas B.; Mazzaferri, Ernest L.; Mendenhall, William M.

doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2005.05.017

« Previous Next »American Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Medicine and Surgery
Volume 27, Issue 1 , Pages 24-28, January 2006

External beam radiotherapy for differentiated thyroid cancer

Kenyon M. Meadows, MD
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
Robert J. Amdur, MD
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
Christopher G. Morris, MS
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
Douglas B. Villaret, MD
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
Ernest L. Mazzaferri, MD
- Division of Endocrinology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
William M. Mendenhall, MD
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Corresponding author. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Florida Health Science Center, PO Box 100385, Gainsville, FL 32610-0385, USA. Tel.: +1 352 265 0287; fax: +1 352 265 0759.

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the efficacy of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for differentiated thyroid carcinomas.

Methods

Forty-two patients with a locally advanced or recurrent differentiated thyroid carcinoma received high-dose EBRT. Thirty-three patients had local-regional disease and 9 patients also had asymptomatic disease metastases. Twenty patients (48%) had macroscopic local-regional disease before EBRT.

Results

The 5-year outcomes for the overall population and for the subset of those without distant metastases before EBRT were local-regional control (88% and 89%, respectively), cause-specific survival (80% and 86%, respectively), and overall survival (54% and 60%, respectively). Local-regional control was improved for patients with microscopic residual disease compared with macroscopic disease, those with previously untreated tumors, and for those who received more than 64 Gy.