Abstract
I thank Dr. Galofré for expressing concern regarding the thyroid cancer trolley problem (1), as illustrated in the recent publication “The Year in Surgical Thyroidology” (2). As you may know, the article arose from a lecture I delivered during the opening session of the American Thyroid Association annual meeting on October 30, 2019.
I had been unaware of Dr. Galofré's work (3,4) until receiving communication from Thyroid regarding the letter on March 23, 2020. In reviewing Dr. Galofré's material now, I see that indeed his idea and my idea are the same, with perhaps the exception that his analogy focuses on papillary thyroid microcarcinomas, whereas mine refers to all differentiated thyroid cancers.
I am afraid that this convergence is coincidental, but I will be pleased to cite his work in the future should the occasion arise.