From June 13 through June 16, 2026, the Endocrine Society hosted its annual conference, ENDO2026, in Chicago, Illinois. ENDO2026 brought together thousands of attendees from across the globe for three days of dynamic, thought-provoking sessions and discussions on the latest in hormone health and science. 

Today, we have a curated selection of abstracts from ENDO2026 on topics related to thyroid cancer. To view all the abstracts featured at ENDO2026, view the event’s abstracts archive. Some descriptions and conclusions were edited for brevity and clarity. 

Thyroid Cancer Abstracts from ENDO 2026

The Role of Obesity on the Incidence and Aggressiveness of Thyroid Cancer: An International Multicentric Study

  • Description: Obesity has been implicated in increasing the risk and influencing the behavior of multiple malignancies; however, the data regarding thyroid cancer remain controversial. The present study was designed to evaluate this association.
  • Conclusion: Although some studies have suggested that obesity contributes to the development and aggressiveness of thyroid cancer, [the] study did not demonstrate a significant association. In contrast, a positive association was observed among overweight individuals. Further research is warranted to better elucidate this complex relationship.

Pregnancy Occurring after Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis Is Associated with Superior Survival: A Multi-State Linked Registry Analysis

  • Description: Differentiated thyroid cancer is common among women of reproductive age, yet the impact of pregnancy on survival remains unclear. Prior studies report conflicting outcomes for women diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer during pregnancy or who conceive after treatment. Few population-based analyses have evaluated whether pregnancy influences overall or disease-specific survival. This study examined the association between pregnancy after differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosis and survival outcomes.
  • Conclusion: Pregnancy occurring post-sifferentiated thyroid cancer diagnosis is associated with higher OS, reflecting either a physiologic phenomenon or residual confounding from health status and other unmeasured factors. These findings provide population based evidence to support counseling that pregnancy is generally safe for women with differentiated thyroid cancer and does not appear to negatively influence long term survival. More detailed data on comorbidities, progression, and preclinical modeling of pregnancy-induced effects on tumor biology are needed to further clarify these associations.

Fracture Risk after Total Thyroidectomy Versus Lobectomy in Patients with Thyroid Cancer: A Nationwide Cohort Study

  • Description: After thyroid cancer surgery, TSH suppression therapy is commonly administered; however, long-term exposure to high-dose levothyroxine may increase the risk of osteoporosis. Patients undergoing total thyroidectomy generally require higher doses of levothyroxine than those undergoing lobectomy. This study aimed to evaluate whether fracture risk differs according to the extent of thyroid surgery.
  • Conclusion: Fracture risk did not differ according to the extent of thyroid surgery or levothyroxine dose in patients with thyroid cancer. However, fracture risk was significantly higher in older patients. These findings suggest that bone mineral density assessment and management should be considered before initiating TSH suppression therapy in older patients after thyroid cancer surgery.

Clinical Response to Selpercatinib in Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma with RABEP2-RET Fusion

  • Description: The development of highly selective RET inhibitors, such as selpercatinib and pralsetinib, has significantly improved outcomes for patients with advanced RET-altered thyroid malignancies. [The researchers] describe a case of metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma with a RABEP2–RET fusion demonstrating a significant clinical and radiologic response to selpercatinib.
  • Conclusion: This case represents an uncommon presentation of medullary thyroid carcinoma with a RABEP2–RET fusion demonstrating a pronounced response to selpercatinib, highlighting the importance of comprehensive genomic profiling in guiding targeted therapy. Although RET fusions are rare in medullary thyroid carcinoma and more typical of differentiated thyroid cancers, their identification can guide effective targeted therapy. Selective RET inhibition yielded a meaningful clinical and radiologic response, emphasizing the transformative role of precision oncology in advanced thyroid cancer management.

Can Molecular Alterations in Thyroid Cancer Be Predicted from Routine Histology using Artificial Intelligence? A Systematic Review

  • Description: The rising incidence of low-risk thyroid cancer has led to increased detection without mortality reduction, raising concerns of overtreatment. Improved risk stratification is needed, with molecular status prediction playing a key role. However, molecular testing remains limited by cost, availability, and inconsistent use. Advances in artificial intelligence applied to digitized histopathology suggest that molecular alterations, including BRAF/RAS, may be inferred from routine hematoxylin–eosin stained slides as digital biomarkers. Despite growing interest, clinical readiness of artificial intelligence-based molecular prediction remains uncertain.
  • Conclusion: AI-based molecular prediction from routine thyroid histopathology shows strong performance, particularly for BRAF V600E, including externally validated models. However, evidence remains largely retrospective, and clinical readiness is limited by scarce independent external validation.

Aibx Software for Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis from Ultrasound Images: A Multicenter International Study

  • Description: AIBx is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software for diagnosing thyroid cancer from ultrasound images. Initial studies demonstrated high sensitivity; the present study aimed to validate diagnostic accuracy across diverse ultrasound devices outside the original training data and to identify performance-influencing factors.
  • Conclusion: AIBx represents an innovative, user-friendly AI-based tool for differentiating benign from malignant thyroid nodules. This study demonstrates a high NPV and moderate diagnostic performance, particularly when sagittal and transverse image outputs are concordant. Although results are encouraging, algorithm optimization and validation are required before routine clinical implementation.

Utilization of Liquid Biopsy to Identify Circulating Long Non-Coding RNA XIST as A Non-Invasive Marker for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

  • Description: Indeterminate thyroid nodules present a significant diagnostic challenge, as cytology alone is often insufficient. The use of modern molecular techniques to detect driver mutations from fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) material has helped address this limitation. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as pivotal regulators of cancer biology which can be detected by liquid biopsy. [The] aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of lncRNA XIST as [a] marker for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
  • Conclusion: This pilot study has demonstrated that circulating XIST, selected through a robust in-silico pipeline and clinically validated in patient cohorts, holds promise as a non-invasive, plasma-based molecular marker for differentiating benign from malignant thyroid nodules. This finding needs to be further validated in a larger multicentric cohort.

Sign up for alerts and stay informed on the latest published guidelines and articles. Don't miss out on our other endocrinology content.