moval 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 tissue (total thyroidectomy) or most of the thyroid tissue (near-total thyroidectomy). The surgeon often leaves small borders of thyroid tissue around the parathyroid glands to reduce the risk of damage to the parathyroid glands, which help regulate calcium levels in the blood.
- Removal of a portion of the thyroid (thyroid lobectomy): During a thyroid lobectomy, the surgeon eliminates half of the thyroid. It might be recommended if you have slow-growing thyroid cancer in one part of the thyroid and there are no suspicious nodules in other areas of the thyroid.
- Removal of the lymph nodes in the neck (lymph node dissection): By removing the thyroid, the surgeon can also remove nearby lymph nodes in the neck. These can be tested for signs of cancer.
- There is also a risk that the nerves connected to the vocal cords may not function normally after surgery, which can lead to vocal cord paralysis, hoarseness, voice changes, or shortness of breath. Treatment can improve or reverse nerve problems.
Thyroid hormone therapy
This medication has two benefits: it supplies the missing hormone that the thyroid would normally produce, and it suppresses the production of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland. High levels of TSH could stimulate the growth of the remaining cancer cells.
Radioactive iodine treatment uses large doses of a form of iodine that is radioactive.
Radioactive iodine treatment is frequently used after thyroidectomy to destroy any residual healthy thyroid tissue, as well as microscopic areas of this disease that were not removed during surgery. Radioactive iodine treatment can also be used to treat thyroid cancer that comes back after treatment or has spread to other areas of the body.
Side effects can include:
- Dry mouth
- Mouth pain
- Eye inflammation
- Altered sense of taste or smell
Most of the radioactive iodine leaves your body in your urine during the first few days after treatment. You will be given instructions on the precautions to take during this time to protect others from r