Less may be more: smaller thyroid surgery tested against total removal
NCT ID NCT07274605
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study compares two types of surgery for people with early-stage thyroid cancer located in the isthmus (the middle part of the thyroid). One group will have a smaller surgery called extended isthmusectomy, which removes only the tumor and nearby lymph nodes. The other group will have total thyroidectomy, which removes the entire thyroid gland. The goal is to see if the smaller surgery works just as well at preventing cancer from coming back, while possibly causing fewer long-term side effects. About 520 adults with low-risk thyroid cancer will take part.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- surgery (extended isthmusectomy or total thyroidectomy)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could show that a smaller surgery is enough for certain thyroid cancers, reducing complications like permanent hormone dependence and nerve damage.
- What could go wrong
- This is a non-inferiority trial, so it may only confirm that the smaller surgery is not worse, not necessarily better. Also, results may not apply to more aggressive or advanced cancers.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 520 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Dec 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2032
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: \- Age 18 years or older. Diagnosis of low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer (papillary, follicular, or Hürthle cell carcinoma). Unifocal tumor located in the thyroid isthmus, cT1b No evidence of extrathyroidal extension, assessed by preoperative ultrasound. Exclusion Criteria: \- Aggressive pathological subtypes (e.g., tall cell, clear cell, columnar cell, or diffuse sclerosing variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma, as well as poorly differentiated types). cN1b. M1 Combined with other suspicious thyroid nodules within the lobes.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Light-Based probe aims to spot thyroid cancer faster
- Mapping how thyroid tumors spread and what surgery leaves behind
- Can a video keep thyroid cancer patients on track after surgery?
- Can doctors safely watch small thyroid cancers instead of removing them?
- Can heat replace the scalpel for small thyroid tumors?
- Thyroid surgery under the microscope: what 3,000 real operations reveal