Cancer Of The Thyroid

Thyroid cancer is a raretype of cancer that affects the thyroid gland, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones.

It's most common in people in their 30sand thoseover the age of60. Women are two to three times more likely to develop it than men.

Thyroid cancer is usually treatable and in many cases can be cured completely, although it can sometimes come back after treatment.

This page covers:

Symptoms

When to get medical advice

Types

Causes

Treatments

Outlook

Symptoms of thyroid cancer

Symptoms of thyroid cancer caninclude:

• a painless lump or swelling in the front of the neck althoughonly 1 in 20neck lumps are cancer
• Swollen glands in the neck
• unexplained hoarseness that doesn't get better after a few weeks
• a sore throat that doesn't get better
• difficulty swallowing

The symptoms canbe causedby less serious causes, such as an enlarged thyroid (goitre) , so it's important to get them checked out.

Your GP will examine your neck and can organise a blood test to check how well your thyroid is working.

If they think you could have cancer or they're not sure what's causing your symptoms, you'll be referred to a hospital specialist formore tests.

They tend to beeasier totreat than the other types.

Causes of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer occurs when a change to the DNA inthe cellsin the thyroid causes them to grow uncontrollably and produce a lump.

It's not usually clear what causes this, but there are a number of things that can increase your risk.

These include:

• other thyroid conditions, such asan inflamed thyroid (thyroiditis) or goitre but notan overactive thyroid or underactive thyroid
• a family history of thyroid canceryour risk is higher if a close relative has had thyroid cancer
• radiation exposure in childhoodsuch as radiotherapy
• obesity
• a bowel condition calledfamilial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)
• acromegaly a rare condition where the body produces too much growth hormone

Treatments for thyroid cancer

Treatment for thyroid cancer depends on the type of thyroid cancer you have and how far it has spread.

The main treatments are:

• surgery to remove part or all of the thyroid
• radioactive iodine treatment you swallow a radioactive substance that travels through your blood and kills the cancer cells
• external radiotherapy a machine is used to direct beams of radiation at the cancer cells to kill them
• chemotherapy and targeted therapies medications used to kill cancer cells

After treatment, you'll be advised to have regular appointments to check whether the cancer has comeback.

Around 9 in every 10 people are alive five years after diagnosis. Many of thesearecured and will have a normal lifespan.

But the outlookvaries depending on the type of thyroid cancer and how early it was diagnosed.

For example:

• more than9 in 10 people with papillary carcinoma live at least five years after diagnosis
• more than 8 in 10 people with follicular carcinoma live at least five years after diagnosis
• around 6or 7 in 10 people with medullary thyroid carcinomalive at least five years after diagnosis
• fewer than 1 in 10 people with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma live at least five years after diagnosis

The cancer comes back in another part of the body, such as the lungs or bones, in up toone in four people treated for thyroid cancer. But it can often be treated again if this happens.