Familial nommedullary thyroid cancer

Nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma, originating from thyroid epithelial cells, is the most frequent thyroid malignant neoplasia. Since 1955, there has been increasing evidence that this cancer may have a familial predisposition. It is now established that around 4.2% of all nonmedullary thyroid carcinomas occurs on the background of familial predisposition. These cases are often more aggressive, due to early onset, multifocality and a higher percentual of recurrences. An autossomal dominant inheritance pattern appears likely in most families, although the exact genes responsible for this syndrome have not yet been identified. Patients affected by this cancer should be treated with total thyroidectomy routinely and, in most cases, lymph node dissection, followed by iodine ablation and TSH suppressive therapy with levothyroxine. Some authors also recommend that first-degree relatives of patients with nonmedullary thyroid cancer (especially women) should be submitted to neck ultrasound for thyroid cancer screening, aiming early diagnosis for better treatment results.