What is Thyroid cancer?
Cancer is a group of disease that forms when cells become mutated and are able to invade adjacent cells and spread to another organ. Thyroid cancer occurs when normal thyroid cells become mutated to abnormal cells that gains this ability.
How common is it?
Thyroid cancer is more common among women than men. It’s the 8th most common cancer among Singaporean women. It’s also more frequently diagnosed at a younger age than most cancers, with a significant proportion diagnosed before the age of 50 years old.
How does Thyroid cancer present?
Patients with thyroid cancer most often present with a painless lump in the front part of the neck. Other times, they may have a lump at the side of the neck, or notice voice changes or difficulty swallowing.
What are the risk factors for thyroid cancer?
Risk factors are factors that makes a person more likely to develop a certain disease. Risk factors for thyroid cancer includes being female, a personal history of thyroid disease like hypothyroidism, a family history of thyroid cancer, a history of exposure to radiation, and obesity.
How is Thyroid cancer treated?
Treatment depends on the extent of the disease at diagnosis, i.e. The stage of disease.
Doctors may recommend surgery (Total thyroidectomy or hemithyroidectomy) to remove the cancer and affected thyroid lobes, and adjacent lymph nodes as well. Radioactive iodine therapy may also be used after surgery to eliminate any remaining cancerous cells.
Doctors also often prescribe thyroxine (thyroid hormones) to replace what would have been produced by the thyroid gland, and to suppress hormones that stimulate the thyroid, hence suppressing growth of tumour cells.
In certain types of thyroid cancers, targeted therapy and radiotherapy may also be used to treat thyroid cancer.
This article is contributed by Dr Tan Chuan Chien, Consultant General Surgeon (Breast & Thyroid Surgery) at SOG-CC Tan Breast, Thyroid & General Surgery.
