Robert Udelsman, MD, chief of surgery at YNHH, prepares with his team to remove a patient’s parathyroid gland (above).
“Thyroid surgery, though generally not life-threatening, can be associated with complications, including injury to the vocal cords or parathyroid glands, which control calcium metabolism. Research confirms that the most important factor for both avoiding complications and enhancing favorable clinical outcomes from the treatmentof thyroid disease is the experience of the surgeon.”
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The Endocrine Cancers Program offers evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of tumors of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, hypothalamus and pancreas. Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Yale-New Haven has one of the largest multidisciplinary endocrine cancer teams in the United States — including surgeons, endocrinologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, radiation oncologists and cytopathologists — who handle about 1,000 cases a year.
Thyroid cancer begins as a tumor that develops in the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the throat. The thyroid produces hormones that help the body work normally. Although many thyroid tumors are benign and thus not cancerous, there is a tremendous advantage to being evaluated and treated by experts in endocrine diseases.
