What role does external beam radiotherapy play in the treatment of well differentiated papillary thyroid cancer when a total thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection cannot be performed?

Following a partial thyroidectomy (meaning less than a near-total extirpation and gross residual disease), the role of RAI is unproven and the likelihood of morbidity is real. In terms of XRT, and in a patient with reasonable co-morbidities, I would offer XRT to 60-66 Gy. Keep an eye on spinal cord ...