“If you must have cancer, Thyroid cancer is the one you would choose”. This statement is most often stated by doctors diagnosing the disease. Of all cancers, thyroid cancer has the highest cure rate.
Most patients will have a thyroid nodule in which the cancer begins to grow. Since the nodule starts out very small it takes time to discover it. 99% of nodules aren’t malignant but for the 1% that is malignant, this will probably be the only sign of the disease. Occasionally, symptoms such as hoarseness, neck pain and and enlarged lymph nodes will occur in people with thyroid cancer.
The first step in diagnosing the cancer is testing the nodule. Radioactive iodine is injected in the patient. Since the thyroid needs iodine in order to produce its hormones the thyroid will absorb the iodine. The thyroid is then scanned, if the nodule absorbs the iodine normally it will show up on the scan and is classified as a hot nodule,of which 95% are benign. A cold nodule is one that does not absorb the iodine and doesn’t show up on the scan. Cold nodules have a higher rate of cancer, but 85% of them will also be benign.
The scan will usually be followed by a FNA (Fine Needle Aspirate)biopsy. A needle is injected painlessly into the nodule and cells are aspirated into a syringe. The cells are examined by a pathologist, the nodule is then classified as benign, suspicious or malignant.
Once a nodule is diagnosed as a malignant tumor the pathologist will decide which type of thyroid cancer it is:papillary, follicular, medullary, or anaplastic. The most common types are papillary and follicular and these are also the most curable. Both are typically treated with the complete removal of the lobe of the thyroid which harbors the cancer, in addition to the removal of most or all of the other side. The surrounding lymph nodes will be assessed to see if they need to be removed also.
About 4-6 weeks after the thyroid has been removed, the patient will undergo radioactive iodine treatment. Iodine treatment is the simplest of all radioactive treatments for cancer. Since only thyroid cells absorb iodine, as previously stated, radioactive iodine is given to the patient in a pill and any remaining thyroid or cancerous thyroid cells will absorb the poisonous iodine and they’ll be destroyed from within. Since all other cells in our body cannot absorb iodine they remain unharmed. None of the symptoms associated with cancer treatment appear in this case, symptoms such as hair loss, nausea, pain diarrhea and other discomforts.
Once the treatment is launched the patient is given a thyroid hormone replacement pill because a human being can’t live without thyroid hormone.
The patient will usually be examined every 6-12 months by his endocrinologist to determine if the daily dose of thyroid hormone is correct and to make sure the tumor is not returning.
