Table 1.

Potential candidates for active surveillance.

Suspicious for PTC (Bethesda category V) with suspicious ultrasonographic characteristics (irregular margins, taller than wide shape, hypoechoic, microcalcifications)

PTC (Bethesda category VI)

Tumor size ⩽ 1 cm

No clinical or radiographic evidence of local or distant spread

Tumor location not adjacent to the recurrent laryngeal nerve or trachea

High risk surgical candidate

Relatively short life expectancy

Urgent concurrent medical or surgical issues

PTC, papillary thyroid cancer.