 of thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer does not usually cause any signs or symptoms early in the disease. As thyroid cancer grows, it can cause:
- A lump (nodule) that can be felt through the skin on the neck
- Changes in your voice, including increased hoarseness
- Difficulty to swallow
- Pain in the neck and throat
- Swollen lymph nodes in your neck
Causes of thyroid cancer
It is not clear what causes thyroid cancer.
Thyroid cancer occurs when cells in your thyroid feel inherited changes (mutations). Mutations allow cells to grow and multiply rapidly. Cells also lose the aptitude to die, as normal cells would. The accumulation of abnormal thyroid cells forms a tumour. The abnormal cells can invade nearby tissue and spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.
Factors that can escalation your risk of thyroid cancer include:
- Gender: This disease happens more often in females than in men.
- Exposure to high levels of radiation: Radiation therapy treatments to the head and neck intensification the risk for this disease.
- Certain inherited genetic syndromes: Genetic syndromes that increase the risk of thyroid cancer contain familial medullary thyroid cancer, numerous endocrine neoplasia, Cowden syndrome, and familial adenomatous polyposis.
Diagnosis of thyroid cancer
Tests and processes used to diagnose thyroid cancer include:
- Physical exam: Your doctor will observe your neck to feel for physical changes in your thyroid, such as thyroid nodules. They may also ask you about your risk factors, such as past radiation exposure and a family history of thyroid tumours.
- Blood test: Blood tests help determine if the thyroid gland is working normally.
- Ultrasound images: Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of body structures. To create an image of the thyroid, the ultrasound transducer is placed on the lower part of the neck. The arrival of your thyroid on ultrasound helps your doctor determine if a thyroid nodule is likely not cancerous (benign) or if there is a risk that it is cancerous.
- Removal of a sample of thyroid tissue: During a fine needle aspiration biopsy, your doctor inserts a long, thin needle through the skin to the thyroid nodule. Ultrasound imaging is typically used to precisely guide the needle to the nodule. Your specialist uses the needle to eliminate samples of suspicious thyroid tissue. The sample is tested in the laboratory to look for cancer cells.
- Other imaging tests: You may have one or more imaging tests to help your doctor find out if your disease has spread beyond the thyroid. Imaging tests can include CT, MRI, and nuclear imaging tests that use a radioactive form of iodine.
- Genetic test: Some people with medullary thyroid cancer may have genetic changes that may be associated with other endocrine cancers. Your family history may lead your doctor to recommend genetic testing to look for genes that increase your risk of cancer.
Treatment for thyroid cancer
Your thyroid cancer treatment options depend on the type and stage of your disease, your general health, and your preferences. Most thyroid cancers can be cured with treatment.
Treatment may not be needed right away
Very small thyroid cancers that have a low risk of spreading throughout the body may not need treatment right away. Instead, you might consider active surveillance with frequent cancer monitoring. Your doctor may recommend blood tests and an ultrasound exam of your neck once or twice a year.
In some people, cancer may never grow and never require treatment. In others, eventually, growth can be detected and treatment can be started.
Most people with thyroid cancer have surgery to remove the thyroid. Which operation your doctor may recommend depends on the type of this disease, the size of the disease, whether the disease has spread beyond the thyroid, and the results of an ultrasound exam of the entire thyroid gland.
Operations used to treat thyroid cancer includes:
- Removal of all or utmost of the thyroid (thyroidectomy): An operation to remove the thyroid gland may involve removing all of the thyroid tis