Ryan Skinner
4/25/17
Dr. Doty
Thyroid Cancer Thyroid cancer is, unsurprisingly, cancer of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located at the base of your neck and has a butterfly-like shape. There are countless variations of thyroid cancer, but the most major forms include papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer, thyroid lymphoma. Fortunately, thyroid cancer is relatively uncommon worldwide and is highly treatable. In the United States alone, each year, there are about 60,000 new cases of Thyroid Cancer. Also, each year in the United States, nearly 2,000 people die from this cancer. There are many risk factors for thyroid cancer. According to the Mayo Clinic, exposure …show more content…
There are many forms of treatment for thyroid cancer. One of the most common is surgery, either to remove all, thryroidectomy, or part, thyroid lobectomy. Also, surgery is sometimes used to remove the lymph nodes in the neck. After a surgery like this, one must begin thyroid hormone therapy, which is the usage of medication that essentially plays the role of the thyroid you no longer have. Another option to kill the thyroid is radioactive iodine, which kills all healthy tissues of the thyroid gland. This is sometimes used after surgeries to kill off any microscopic cancerous tissue that may have not been removed during the surgery. Of course, another option in all surgeries is chemotherapy. As a whole, the long term prognosis for thyroid cancer is pretty good. Most cases can be cured using the above treatments. Although the long-term prognosis is good for this cancer, one thing all that are diagnosed with it must watch for when in remission is the reemergence of the cancer. Microscopic amounts of tissue that are left behind can cause the cancer to reemerge later on. To help catch this in a timely manner if it does happen, doctors recommend periodic blood tests or thyroid
4/25/17
Dr. Doty
Thyroid Cancer Thyroid cancer is, unsurprisingly, cancer of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located at the base of your neck and has a butterfly-like shape. There are countless variations of thyroid cancer, but the most major forms include papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer, thyroid lymphoma. Fortunately, thyroid cancer is relatively uncommon worldwide and is highly treatable. In the United States alone, each year, there are about 60,000 new cases of Thyroid Cancer. Also, each year in the United States, nearly 2,000 people die from this cancer. There are many risk factors for thyroid cancer. According to the Mayo Clinic, exposure …show more content…
There are many forms of treatment for thyroid cancer. One of the most common is surgery, either to remove all, thryroidectomy, or part, thyroid lobectomy. Also, surgery is sometimes used to remove the lymph nodes in the neck. After a surgery like this, one must begin thyroid hormone therapy, which is the usage of medication that essentially plays the role of the thyroid you no longer have. Another option to kill the thyroid is radioactive iodine, which kills all healthy tissues of the thyroid gland. This is sometimes used after surgeries to kill off any microscopic cancerous tissue that may have not been removed during the surgery. Of course, another option in all surgeries is chemotherapy. As a whole, the long term prognosis for thyroid cancer is pretty good. Most cases can be cured using the above treatments. Although the long-term prognosis is good for this cancer, one thing all that are diagnosed with it must watch for when in remission is the reemergence of the cancer. Microscopic amounts of tissue that are left behind can cause the cancer to reemerge later on. To help catch this in a timely manner if it does happen, doctors recommend periodic blood tests or thyroid