The management of differentiated thyroid cancer involves a combination of surgery, thyroid stimulating hormone suppression and radioactive iodine for most patients. In a small subset of patients, external beam radiotherapy is also used. However, its role remains controversial and there are no randomised controlled trials to guide practice. In this overview we review the evidence from the published literature for the use of external beam radiotherapy in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer and discuss the indications for which it is most commonly used. The technique of external beam radiotherapy, including the emerging role for intensity-modulated radiotherapy, will also be discussed.
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