Thyroid cancer is more common among women than men and accounts for only one percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United States. Most thyroid cancers grow slowly but certain types can be aggressive.
There are four major types of thyroid gland cancer: anaplastic, follicular, medullary and papillary. These types of thyroid cancer look differently under a microscope and generally grow at varying rates.
The most common symptom of thyroid cancer is a lump, or nodule, that can be felt in the thyroid gland or neck. Other symptoms are rare.
Pain is seldom an early warning sign of thyroid cancer. You may have a tight or full feeling in the neck, difficulty breathing or swallowing, hoarseness or swollen lymph nodes.
Your doctor may use several tests to learn the size and location of a thyroid nodule or to help determine if a lump is benign, meaning not cancerous, or malignant, meaning cancerous. Your doctor may order blood tests to check how well your thyroid is functioning.
Ultrasonography is a technique that produces a picture of the thyroid. In this procedure, high-frequency sound waves, which cannot be heard by humans, pass through the thyroid. The patterns of echoes produced by these waves are converted into a picture or sonogram by a computer. Doctors can tell if nodules are fluid-filled cysts, which are usually benign, or solid lumps that might be malignant.
A radioactive iodine scan can outline abnormal areas of the thyroid. Before the scan, you are given a very small amount of a radioactive substance, usually technetium (Tc-99m), which collects in the thyroid. An instrument called a scanner can detect areas in the thyroid that don't absorb iodine normally. Because such "cold spots" can be either benign or malignant, further tests are necessary.
Surgery is standard treatment for cancer of the thyroid. A doctor may remove the cancer using one of the following operations:
Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation for cancer of the thyroid usually comes from drinking a liquid that contains radioactive iodine. Because the thyroid takes up iodine, the radioactive iodine collects in any thyroid tissue remaining in the body and kills the cancer cells. Radiation from a machine outside the body may be given for some advanced tumors after surgery.
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Head and Neck Cancer
2380 Sutter St., Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 885–7528
Fax: (415) 885–7711
Appointment information
Endocrine Surgical Oncology
1600 Divisadero St., Third Floor
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 353–7687
Fax: (415) 353–7781
Appointment information
