Genetic blood tests can be used to identify people who are at risk for developing familial medullary cancer.

The stage groupings are separate for papillary or follicular cancer, medullary cancer, and anaplastic cancer.

Clinical trials of protein kinase inhibitors, which block the abnormal kinase proteins involved in the development and growth of medullary cancer cells, showed clear evidence of response in 10-30% of patients.

On histologic examination triple negative breast tumors mostly fall into the categories secretory carcinoma or adenoid cystic types (both considered less aggressive), medullary cancers and grade 3 invasive ductal carcinomas with no specific subtype, and highly aggressive metastatic cancers.

While there is general agreement that stage I or II papillary, follicular or medullary cancer have a good prognosis, it is not possible when evaluating a small thyroid cancer to determine which ones will grow and metastasize and which will not.