BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - A new study by researchers at China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing found that patients can opt for a minimally invasive procedure instead of thyroid surgery, indicating a 'significant advancement in the field of interventional thyroid cancer treatment'.
The researchers developed a new procedure with the help of microwave ablation, a treatment that uses heat from microwave energy to destroy cancer cells, to avoid thyroid surgery as it causes scarring, lifelong hormone replacement, and potential complications, such as permanent hoarseness.
Dr Ming-An Yu, director of interventional medicine, said, 'This study marks the first multi-center comparative analysis between microwave ablation and surgical resection for multifocal papillary thyroid cancer or PTC'.
The study, published in the journal Radiology, observed 775 patients with Stage 1 PTC, who had either undergone microwave ablation or thyroid surgery at ten different centers between 2015 and December 2021.
After following up with patients for four years, researchers found that microwave heat treatment resulted in less blood loss, shorter incision length, as well as shorter procedure and hospitalization durations. It also preserved the thyroid function after the surgery.
'These findings challenge traditional treatment paradigms and open new avenues for less invasive management strategies,' Yu noted positively.
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