LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Starting Sunday, this suburb of Orlando will be home to thousands of endocrinologists and others interested in thyroid function and pathology as the hosts the .
The quintennial event serves as the ATA's annual meeting; it is joined by its counterparts in , , and .
Kicking off the main event Sunday evening will be four addresses on the general topic of "Progress in Thyroid Research: Highlights from the Past Decade," with lectures by prominent experts on autoimmunity, thyroid neoplasms, hormonal function, and clinical thyroidology.
In addition, pre-conference educational courses begin even earlier on Sunday, and programming during the remainder of the conference runs from before dawn to past dusk. The meeting winds up the morning of Friday, Oct. 23.
Some highlights include:
- "Early riser symposia" at 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday addressing such topics as treating medullary thyroid cancer, new approaches to thyroid surgery, and aspects of differentiated thyroid cancer
- Findings on the effect of vitamin D supplementation in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease
- Results of a phase III study of lenvatinib in differentiated thyroid cancer not responding to radioiodine
- Findings from EXAMINER, a trial of cabozantinib in progressive, metastatic medullary thyroid cancer
- Debates and discussions on unusual thyroid function tests, when to use targeted therapies for thyroid cancer, the role of long-term anti-thyroid therapy, use of ultrasound and scintigraphy for cancer imaging, and treatment of Graves' disease in children -- among many others
- Results from a test of levothyroxine added to triiodothyronine for treating hypothyroidism
- Findings from a head-to-head trial of radiofrequency ablation versus ethanol ablation in treating mainly cystic thyroid nodules
The congress will be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort here. According to program committee chair Rebecca Bahn, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., organizers this year are making special efforts to involve young investigators from around the world.
Attendance is expected to reach 2,500.