2025 American Thyroid Association Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Guidelines: What is New? A Surgical Summary

Thursday, March 5, 2026

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM MST

Location:105A-C

CE: 1.5

Moderator(s)

Sarah Fisher, MD

Associate Professor
Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas, United States
Aditya Shirali, MD (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor of Surgery
University of Florida College of Medicine
Gainesville, Florida, United States

Recently the American Thyroid Association introduced updated guidelines for the treatment of adult patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Overall management for patients with DTC has shifted to a shared decision-making model, incorporating individualized assessments of risk versus benefit, particularly when multiple treatment options with equivalent oncologic outcomes are available. The surgeon who treats DTC should be able to balance the risk of disease persistence, recurrence, and/or metastatic spread while minimizing treatment related morbidity. An understanding of the new guidelines, including areas in which controversy remains, is essential for the surgeon treating DTC.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize and describe indications for thyroid lobectomy versus total thyroidectomy, and situations in which nonoperative management may be an appropriate alternative.
Incorporate molecular profiling, when available, into surgical decision making in the preoperative setting and risk assessment in the postoperative setting.
Summarize risk factors for recurrence and how these are utilized to determine adjuvant therapy(ies) for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
Describe a dynamic approach to long term surveillance that incorporates an individual’s risk of recurrence to guide the frequency and modality of surveillance approaches.

Presentations:

10:33 AM - 10:44 AM MST

Genomics of DTC – Should Molecular Profiling Inform Extent of Surgery?
Faculty: Yinin Hu, MD (he/him/his) – Department of Surgery, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
10:44 AM - 10:55 AM MST

Right-Sizing of Surgery Based on Risk Assessment
Faculty: Olivia DeLozier, MD – The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
10:55 AM - 11:06 AM MST

Completion Thyroidectomy and Changes in the WHO 5th Edition Terminology
Faculty: Saba Kurtom, MD, MS – University of Washington
11:06 AM - 11:17 AM MST

Risk of Recurrence – How Do We Stratify?
Faculty: Thomas Szabo Yamashita, MD (he/him/his) – Emory
11:17 AM - 11:57 AM MST

Panel with Case Discussions to Facilitate Real-world Application of the Guidelines
Faculty: Elizabeth G. Grubbs, MD (she/her/hers) – MD Anderson Cancer Center
Faculty: Julie Ann Sosa, MD, MD, FACS, FSSO (she/her/hers) – University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)