With the release of the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) Management Guidelines for Adults with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer, treatment decisions for low-risk thyroid cancer became more complicated. Although the guidelines were meant to supplement shared patient-healthcare provider decision-making, the patient-provider deliberation often fails to meet the informational standards for patients and can often exclude available treatments. Low-risk thyroid cancer patients often don’t know what questions to ask, while the physicians report not knowing how to obtain patients’ preferences and include them into treatment decisions.
The Thyroid Cancer Treatment Choice Toolkit, developed by Dr. Susan Pitt and Megan Saucke, offers materials comparing treatment options for patients with low-risk thyroid cancer and a prompt list to help patients talk to their physicians about their cancer.
View the Toolkit