Phase 2 STAGE‑MTC evaluates thyroid lobectomy; no drug target (surgery de‑escalation).

This Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center–sponsored, single-arm surgical trial tests whether thyroid lobectomy plus ipsilateral (unilateral) central neck dissection can adequately treat resectable sporadic medullary thyroid cancer in patients without a germline RET mutation. The design focuses on oncologic control and safety while reducing complications and avoiding mandatory lifelong thyroid hormone replacement that follows total thyroidectomy. After surgery, patients are monitored with serial calcitonin and CEA blood tests plus neck ultrasound and/or PET/CT (including Ga‑68 or FDG), with predefined “rescue” options (completion thyroidectomy and/or contralateral neck dissection) for biochemical or imaging evidence of residual disease. The scientific/commercial angle is pragmatic surgical de-intensification: sporadic MTC is often unilateral, so proving durable control with less-than-total thyroid removal could shift guidelines and patient quality of life. Today’s typical care for thyroid-confined MTC—whether sporadic or hereditary-risk—is total thyroidectomy with central neck dissection (often bilateral), followed by surveillance.