Subject(s)
Clinical Decision-Making/ethics , Colonic Polyps/pathology , Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis , Algorithms , Colectomy/ethics , Colectomy/methods , Colonic Polyps/surgery , Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology , Colorectal Neoplasms/surgery , Disease Management , Endoscopic Mucosal Resection/ethics , Endoscopic Mucosal Resection/methods , Expert Testimony/ethics , Humans , Interdisciplinary Communication , Margins of Excision , Risk Assessment , Watchful Waiting/ethics , Watchful Waiting/methodsSubject(s)
Ethics, Medical , Uterine Cervical Dysplasia/therapy , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/therapy , Watchful Waiting/ethics , Female , Humans , Neoplasm Staging , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/diagnosis , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology , Uterine Cervical Dysplasia/diagnosis , Uterine Cervical Dysplasia/pathologyABSTRACT
In recent years, the increasing numbers of small, apparently indolent thyroid cancers diagnosed in the world have encouraged investigators to consider non-intervention as an alternative to surgical management. In the following pages, the prospect of a non-intervention trial for thyroid cancer is considered with attention to the ethical issues that such a trial might raise. Such a non-intervention trial is analyzed relative to 7 ethical considerations: the social or scientific value of the research, the scientific validity of the trial, the necessity of fair selection of participants, a favorable risk-benefit ratio for trial participants, independent review of the trial, informed consent, and allowing the study participants to withdraw from the trial. A non-intervention trial for thyroid cancer is also considered relative to the central concept of equipoise.
