Study shows radiation treatment can be avoided following surgery in patients with low risk thyroid cancer
Radiation treatment following surgery can be safely omitted in thyroid cancer patients whose disease is at low risk of returning, new study findings show. The Iodine or Not (IoN) study, which ran across 33 UK cancer centres including Weston Park Cancer Centre, Sheffield, set out to establish whether patients with low risk thyroid cancer could safely forgo radioactive iodine treatment following surgery to remove the thyroid.
Radiation treatment targets the thyroid by using its need for iodine, allowing the radiation to destroy remaining thyroid or cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Currently, radioactive iodine is considered for most patients following surgical removal of the thyroid gland for cancer.
Published in The Lancet, the findings showed that patients with low risk thyroid cancer who did not have the therapy following thyroid cancer surgery had similar five-year cancer-free survival rates at the end of the study as those who did (98 per cent compared to 96 per cent). The difference in the figures was most likely down to chance rather than any clinically significant factor, the authors said.
Weston Park Cancer Centre, which is home to a state-of-the-art nuclear medicine and molecular radiotherapy suite, was one of the highest recruiters onto the trial. The team also supported with trial management from the outset. Clinical oncologist and clinical director for the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre Professor Jonathan Wadsley said: “IoN is an exemplary study, demonstrating that research does not always need to focus on shiny new treatments.
“By improving the delivery of existing therapies, we can make real advancements in care, stop unnecessary treatments and enhance patients’ quality of life by reducing treatment burden, side effects and time away from family. In addition, these advances can lead to significant savings in costs for both healthcare services and patients, lowering expenses while also freeing up clinical staff and hospital beds.”
Picture: Professor Jonathan Wadsley (back row, right) is pictured with members of the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s nuclear medicine team at Weston Park Cancer Centre’s nuclear medicine and molecular radiotherapy suite.
Read this report on page 17 of the February 2026 issue of RAD Magazine.
