The thyroid gland is a tissue located on both sides of the trachea in the anterior part of the neck and provides the production of thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are essential for fetal brain development and skeletal maturation. In adults, it is essential for adjusting the metabolic rate of the body. The production of thyroid hormones is controlled by hormones secreted from the pituitary and hypothalamus glands.
Risk factors for thyroid cancer are exposure to ionizing radiation (such as radiotherapy to the neck for another reason or radiation accident), family history of thyroid cancer, genetics (MEN-2), and female gender.
Thyroid cancers can be divided into 3 groups as differentiated cancers (papillary cancer (80%), follicular cancer (10%), undifferentiated cancers (medullary cancer (5%), anaplastic cancer (1%)) and others (lymphoma, sarcoma, metastasis). . Although the diagnosis and treatment approach are exemplary, there are also differences.
Symptoms of thyroid cancer are a mass in the neck thyroid region (a thyroid nodule), an enlarged lymph node in its length, and voice changes due to involvement in advanced stages, difficulty in swallowing and breathing. Thyroid hormone levels are usually normal.
When a nodule is detected in the thyroid gland by physical examination, ultrasonography should be evaluated and thyroid hormone levels should be evaluated. After demonstrating the presence of the nodule, evaluation should be made with tissue diagnosis by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Thyroid scintigraphy can be performed to evaluate the thyroid nodules again. In large and fixed tumors, computed tomography and MRI may be required.
The main treatment for thyroid cancers is surgery, and lymph nodes should be removed, if necessary, together with thyroidectomy in surgery. After surgical treatment, radioactive iodine treatment (in papillary and partially follicular cancers) can be arranged according to the type of tumor. Radiotherapy can be applied to tumors that cannot be removed or to bone metastases.
