2025 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Adult Patients With Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: What's New for Surgeons?
In brief
2025 ATA guidelines reshape surgical management of differentiated thyroid cancer
The American Thyroid Association's new 2025 recommendations replace the 2015 version and focus exclusively on differentiated thyroid cancer, offering updated, evidence-based directives for endocrine neck surgeons. Key changes include revised criteria for extent of thyroidectomy, lymph-node dissection, and postoperative surveillance. Adoption of these guidelines is expected to standardize care for millions, but clinicians must review the details to implement practice changes.
- Journal
- Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Q1)
- Published
- 6 August 2026
- Study design
- Unclassified
- Evidence level
- Level 5, Expert Opinion (CEBM 5)
- Authors
- Chau Nguyen, Amanda Silver Karcioglu, Joseph Scharpf
- PMID
- 42560656
- DOI
- 10.1002/ohn.70367
Why clinicians should know about it
- Picked for Otorhinolaryngology (paper of the day, 7 August 2026).
Abstract
The American Thyroid Association (ATA) has published an update to the 2015 management guidelines for adult patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). This updated version focuses solely on the management of differentiated thyroid cancer, offering a comprehensive set of guidelines for all stakeholders in the care of differentiated thyroid cancer, but no longer addresses the management of thyroid nodules in adults. Herein, we highlight the key updates and differences between the two versions, emphasizing those most pertinent to endocrine neck surgeons. These guidelines will form the basis for differentiated thyroid cancer care over the next few years, affecting millions of patients. For maximal impact, they will need to be widely disseminated, discussed, and dissected, to ultimately result in practice changes befitting the latest evidence-based care.
Abstract as published, via PubMed.
For healthcare professionals. The summary is generated by AI from the published abstract, and the evidence level is assigned automatically from the study design on the Oxford CEBM hierarchy. Neither is medical advice. Read the full paper before changing practice.