Comparison and update in the field of thyroid tumors: the VIII Multidisciplinary update day dedicated to thyroid tumors is scheduled for Monday 23 March 2026, in the “Partenope” Aula Magna of the Federico II Congress Center. Thyroid.
The congress is organized by the professor Domenico Salvatoreprofessor of Endocrinology at the University of Naples Federico II and president of the Italian Thyroid Association, the main national scientific reference for scholars and clinicians of thyroid diseases. “This scientific conference – explains Professor Salvatore – now in its eighth edition, is confirmed as an important moment of in-depth analysis on thyroid cancer and is aimed at medical specialists, endocrinologists, surgeons, oncologists and general practitioners”. Institutional greetings from the Rector of Federico II, professor, are expected at the proceedings Matteo Lorito. “The objective of the meeting – explains Professor Salvatore – is to present a summary of the new international guidelines, published this year, for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer, in an international context characterized by rapid technological and pharmacological progress that is expanding therapeutic possibilities. A session will also be dedicated to the comparison between specialists from the main Italian centers on clinical experiences in the management of patients with thyroid cancer, with the aim of clarifying, through the discussion of interactive clinical cases, the main controversial issues and improving treatment paths”.
Clinical data tell us that thyroid tumors represent the most frequent endocrine neoplasm and constitute approximately 5% of all oncological pathologies and are among the 5 most common cancers for women. Over the last twenty years their diagnosis has increased significantly, making in-depth knowledge of this pathology increasingly important, thus avoiding both phenomena of overdiagnosis and, on the contrary, late diagnoses. In fact, thyroid cancer includes a wide spectrum of conditions: from indolent forms, which can remain stable for life and which can simply be monitored over time, avoiding surgery and other treatments, up to more aggressive forms, capable of growing rapidly, within a few months, and which require radical and timely treatment. Correct knowledge of the disease is therefore essential to appropriately indicate diagnostic tests, including fine needle aspiration, and to choose the most appropriate treatment. “Not all thyroid tumors – continues Professor Salvatore – require radical surgery: their management has become more complex and is based on increasingly personalized strategies that include active surveillance, hemithyroidectomy and, only in selected cases, total thyroidectomy with or without radioiodine treatment. In this context, it is equally important to avoid unnecessary tests, such as repeated ultrasound scans on small, low-risk nodules or performing needle aspiration on millimetric and indolent nodules, which can generate anxiety useless in the patient and lead to checks and often to unsuitable treatments. Finally, in cases of advanced cancer, new molecularly targeted drugs – capable of acting selectively on the cellular mutations that generate the tumor – offer an important therapeutic opportunity for patients who until a few years ago did not have effective therapies”.
Italian and international scholars who have contributed to the development and validation of these innovative therapies will participate in the congress, including professors Martin Schlumberger (Paris), Matthew Ringel (Columbus, Ohio), Lori Wirth (Boston), James Fagin (New York), Sophie Leboulleux (Geneva) and Salvatore Vaccarella (Lyon). In Naples, the group led by Professor Salvatore represents one of Federico II’s excellences in the study and use of new molecularly targeted drugs for the treatment of thyroid tumors. Patients followed at the Thyroid Clinic of the Federico II University Hospital can benefit from over twenty years of experience in clinical studies dedicated to advanced thyroid tumors with access to latest generation therapies. Among the most recent results is participation in the LIBRETTO-531 clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which demonstrated the first-line efficacy of selpercatinib in the treatment of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma and radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma.
“Ever new molecularly targeted drugs allow us to target the mutations responsible for the disease and the tumor cells with greater precision while reducing side effects – explains Professor Salvatore – these are drugs that allow us to constantly improve the treatment of advanced thyroid tumors even if the challenges to be faced in making this disease curable for all patients remain many”.
At the Federico II Polyclinic Furthermore, the Gom (Multidisciplinary Oncology Group) for thyroid tumors has been active for over six years within the oncology network, which guarantees patients an integrated approach between endocrinologists, nuclear doctors, surgeons, oncologists and cytopathologists. “To respond even better to patients’ needs – concludes Salvatore – the free ‘Thyroid Clinic’ service (www.clinicadelletiroide.it) is also active on the Policlinico Federico II website (www.clinicadelletiroide.it), a portal dedicated to citizens with thyroid pathologies which allows them to get in touch with Federico specialists and quickly request a consultation. Neapolitan endocrinology thus continues to strengthen its commitment both in patient care and in scientific research”.
