What is it?
A rare form of cancer and is cancer of the thyroid gland that can be mistaken for goitre (non-cancerous nodules and swellings on thyroid gland) in hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.
- It tends to affect women more than men; less aggressive forms occur mainly to persons under 40 years old and thus are more treatable (papillary carcinoma).
- More aggressive forms occur to persons between 60-80 years old (anaplastic thyroid carcinoma).
Thyroid Gland
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that makes hormones that help regulate your blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and weight.
The four main types of thyroid cancer, including:
- Papillary or mixed papillary-follicular thyroid cancer (solid, irregular or cystic mass over thyroid tissue)
- Follicular or Hurthle cell thyroid cancer
- Medullary thyroid cancer
- Anaplastic thyroid cancer
- Thyroid lymphoma
- Thyroid sarcoma
- Thyroid carcinoma most commonly manifests as a painless, palpable, solitary thyroid nodule.
- Patients or physicians discover most of these nodules during routine palpation of the neck.
- Most palpable thyroid nodules represent benign disease.
- Palpable and nonpalpable nodules of similar size have the same risk for malignancy.
Medscape
Diagnose Tests
- Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB)
- Neck ultrasonography
- Thyroid radioiodine imaging
- Neck computed tomography (CT) scanning
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning (assess recurrent disease)
- Blood tests
- Biopsy
Cause
- Overweight and/or obesity
- Exposure to radiation i.e. in nuclear power plants or nuclear explosions/disasters
- Family history (medullary thyroid carcinoma)
- Familial adenomatous polyposis- genetic condition where one has abnormal growth in intestine.
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis- one’s own body immune system attacks one’s thyroid gland
- Carney complex type 1- hereditary condition defects in the PRKAR1A gene associated with spotty skin pigmentation; myxomas
- Low iodine levels
- Mixed cryoglobulinemia (triggered by the cold)
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2
- Non-cancerous growth of thyroid gland
- Parvovirus B19 (fifth disease)
- Chemical solvents used in manufacturing, engineering, textiles exposure.
Treatments
- Hysterectomy
- Ionised radiation from regular radiotherapy, x-rays (range from 5-20 years later)
Syndromes
Higher Risk
- Age 25 to 65 years old
- Female sex
- Low diet iodine intake
- Family history of thyroid disease i.e. Familiar Medullary thyroid cancer
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2
- History of goitre (lump in throat)
- Asian race
Medscape
Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:
This condition can cause the symptom:
This condition may show similar symptoms to:
Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice
Detailed Information
Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Thyroid Cancer in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).
- NHS
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- Medscape
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- Pharmaceutical Journal
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- Medical News Today
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- WebMD
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- National Organisation of Rare Diseases
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- Verywell Health
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