Topic Overview:

The incidence of thyroid carcinoma is increasing in the United States, with an estimated 48,020 new cases in 2010. With current multimodality therapies, the 10-year survival is 99.8 percent in patients with stage I disease, but is only 40.7 percent in those with stage IV disease. Despite these variances, current treatment is characterized by protocols that are rarely modified by risk category.

In the past few years, understanding of the genetic changes involved in thyroid carcinogenesis has increased significantly, and investigators have begun to develop clinical algorithms based on tumor gene profiles. Yip’s clinical research is aimed at better defining the role of molecular markers in thyroid cancer patients. Yip’s laboratory investigates the utility of molecular marker testing in biopsy specimens for improving diagnosis of thyroid cancer preoperatively, to optimize the initial surgical approach. Yip is also interested in evaluating how molecular markers can help differentiate between aggressive and non-aggressive thyroid cancers, with a view to tailoring management algorithms for thyroid cancer patients in different risk categories.