Thyroid Cancer

The frequency of thyroid cancer has been increasing in recent years. There are different kinds of thyroid cancer:

Well-differentiated thyroid cancer, (papillary and follicular thyroid cancer) anaplastic cancer or undifferentiated cancer, which is a very aggressive and rare form of thyroid cancer, and Medullary thyroid cancer.

The most common form of thyroid cancer is papillary thyroid cancer. This form of cancer generally grows slowly and is less aggressive. Papillary thyroid cancer accounts for seventy percent of all thyroid cancers. Environmental factors including lack of antioxidants, in addition to genetic factors and external radiation, contribute to the occurrence of thyroid cancer. Papillary thyroid cancer can run in your family and can occur in conjunction with colon cancer. Beware of this genetic association!

Medullary thyroid cancer can also affect individuals or certain families. When it is familial, other types of endocrine tumors can occur at the same time. For instance, some patients may have MEN (multiple endocrine neoplasia). The endocrine tumors that can occur along with medullary thyroid cancer are pituitary tumors, pheochromocytoma, and parathyroid tumors, which can cause blood calcium levels to become high.

Treatment of well differentiated thyroid cancer should always include a thyroidectomy, which is removal of the thyroid gland, followed by a treatment with radioactive iodine. Monitoring of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer requires periodic measurement of the Thyroglobulin level (a blood marker for residual thyroid cancer). An ultrasound of the neck to look for neck lymph nodes and whole body survey scans using radioactive iodine are also important techniques to search for cancer spread. The treatment of medullary cancer of the thyroid is essentially surgical removal of the thyroid gland.