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Endocrine Surgery: Current Treatment and Future Options

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "General Surgery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 745

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Multifunctional Center of Endocrine Surgery, Cristo Re Hospital, 00167 Rome, Italy
Interests: endocrine surgery; thyroid surgery; parathyroid surgery; thyroid cancer surgery; minimally invasive thyroid surgery—Mivat

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Guest Editor
Section of Endocrine Surgery, Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstraße 1, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
Interests: endocrine surgery; thyroid surgery; parathyroid surgery; Graves' disease; thyroid carcinoma; PTC; neuroendocrine neoplasms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Endocrine surgery, as a distinct subspecialty within general surgery, is currently experiencing a period of transformation. Across many countries, there is a clear movement toward the establishment of highly specialized centers dedicated to individual endocrine organs. This development inevitably raises the question of whether increasing subspecialization may come at the cost of the broad, integrative perspective that once characterized the endocrine surgeon.

Simultaneously, novel operative techniques are being introduced—particularly in thyroid surgery—primarily driven by the pursuit of superior cosmetic outcomes. While these approaches expand the surgical armamentarium, they also raise important questions regarding their appropriate indications (benign versus malignant disease) and the potential for new, procedure-specific complications that must be carefully evaluated. Beyond thyroid procedures, adrenal surgery has likewise entered a new era, with robot-assisted techniques gaining increasing attention. Taken together, these developments prompt a deeper reflection on how rapidly evolving surgical technologies and the trend toward organ-specific specialization will shape the future of endocrine surgery as a discipline. Will the field maintain its comprehensive scope or evolve into a constellation of more narrowly defined, technology-driven subfields?

This Special Issue aims to highlight these ongoing transformations. We welcome contributions that present innovative surgical techniques alongside those that revisit established approaches, thereby illustrating the dynamic and multifaceted landscape of modern endocrine surgery.

Dr. Pietro Princi
Dr. Julia Staubitz-Vernazza
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • endocrine surgery
  • thyroid surgery
  • parathyroid surgery
  • adrenal gland surgery
  • neuroendocrine neoplasms
  • thyroid cancer
  • thyroid cancer treatment
  • surgical endocrinology
  • robotic endocrine surgery
  • laparoscopic adrenalectomy
  • ret-roperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy
  • parathyroidectomy
  • benign thyroid disease
  • thyroid ablation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 1043 KB  
Article
The Pitfalls of Calcitonin as a Tumor Marker: Real-Life Data of Patients with Elevated Basal Calcitonin Levels but Without Evidence of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma
by Ann-Kathrin Lederer, Constantin-Leonard Jacob Kessler, Nabila Bouzakri, Oana Lozan, Florian Wild, Katharina Theresa Rauschkolb-Olk, Heidi Rossmann, Hauke Lang and Thomas J. Musholt
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(7), 2500; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15072500 - 25 Mar 2026
Viewed by 520
Abstract
Background: Calcitonin, a tumor marker primarily used to diagnose medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), can also be elevated in other conditions, complicating diagnosis. This study aims to provide a clinical evaluation of the real-world consequences of unexplained calcitonin elevation. Methods: We conducted [...] Read more.
Background: Calcitonin, a tumor marker primarily used to diagnose medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), can also be elevated in other conditions, complicating diagnosis. This study aims to provide a clinical evaluation of the real-world consequences of unexplained calcitonin elevation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with elevated basal calcitonin levels who presented at the Department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery, University Medical Center Mainz, between January 2015 and March 2025. Additionally, we reviewed electronic health records from 2007 onward for patients with ICD codes indicating calcitonin hypersecretion. Patients with confirmed MTC or genetic syndromes were excluded. Results: Of 345 patients with elevated calcitonin levels, 167 (48%) met the inclusion criteria, and 29 additional patients with calcitonin hypersecretion were identified via ICD, resulting in 167 patients analyzed. More than half of the patients were female (52%), had an average age of 53.9 years and a high prevalence of goiter (86%). Calcitonin levels were slightly elevated (<20 pg/mL) in 81% of cases and were above 50 pg/mL in only 10 patients. Surgery was performed in 77% of patients, mainly to exclude malignancy. Postoperatively, calcitonin normalized in 86% of patients but remained elevated in eight patients. Two of these patients were found to have false-positive results due to assay interference. Follow-up data were incomplete for a substantial proportion of patients, with a median follow-up of 4.6 months. The mortality rate was 4%, with causes unrelated to calcitonin levels. Conclusions: Elevated basal calcitonin levels, especially slightly elevated levels (<20 pg/mL), are common in clinical practice and often do not appear to be related to malignant disease, so careful investigation is required. Persistently elevated calcitonin levels justify further examinations, especially if other explanations can be ruled out. Only a few patients attend follow-up appointments, which makes patient follow-up challenging. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Endocrine Surgery: Current Treatment and Future Options)
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