The Columbia Thyroid Biopsy Program is a leader in addressing multinodular thyroid disease and thyroid cancer. “Our success stems from a multidisciplinary collaboration with surgeons, endocrinologists, nuclear radiologists, and pathologists,” says Jennifer Kuo, MD, FACS, Director of the program.
The Thyroid Biopsy program offers same-day onsite evaluations, with surgeons coordinating with cytopathologists to minimize the number of biopsies required to get definitive results. “Patients at other hospitals may get up to eight or ten passes per nodule,” says Dr. Kuo. “We can often get enough cells with three or less. We also offer the latest molecular testing and have developed our own panel to refine the estimate of malignancy in thyroid nodules.
New Standards of Treatment
New guidelines from American Thyroid Association released in 2015 emphasize ultrasound characteristics in deciding whether or not a nodule needs to be biopsied. “We employ the latest ultrasound techniques and draw upon our broad clinical experience to save patients from unnecessary biopsies, giving them a well founded recommendation for the next step,” says Dr. Kuo. “Another advantage of our program is that we offer patients the full spectrum of care in a single location. They no longer have to go from general practitioner to endocrinologist to radiologist to surgeon, to find the proper treatment. We provide it all under one roof and have an expedited path to surgery which is better for the patient psychologically.”
Read more about how Dr. Kuo and a team of Columbia doctors saved a family with a genetic mutation related to thyroid cancer.
Read more about the Thyroid Biopsy Program at Columbia