Archive for the 'Thyroid Cancer' Category

The thyroid cancer has very high survival rates.

Survival rates are high, with 95% of all thyroid cancer patients achieving what would be considered a cure, or long-term survival without re-occurrence.

However, Thyroid cancer is still a cancer that requires treatment and lifelong monitoring and can have debilitating effects on patients.

In the United States, there are about 20,000 new cases of thyroid cancer each year. Females are more likely to have thyroid cancer when compared to males. Although it is most common after age 30 and its aggressiveness increases significantly in older patients, thyroid cancer can occur in any age group.

The majority of patients present with a nodule on their thyroid does not cause symptoms. Remember, over 99% of thyroid nodules are not cancer!

Follicular thyroid cancer is considered more malignant (aggressive) than the other types. It occurs in a slightly older age group than papillary and is also less common in children. In contrast to papillary cancer, it occurs only rarely after radiation therapy.

Death Rate!! Mortality is related to the degree of vascular invasion. In terms of prognosis, age is a very important factor. Patients over 40 have a more aggressive disease and typically the tumor does not concentrate iodine as well as in younger patients.

Thyroid gland cancer is caused when the thyroid cells becomes abnormal, form a cancerous tumor and grow uncontrollably.

It if is not treated properly, it can affect other parts by a process called metastasis. The thyroid gland cancer is four kinds. They are follicular, papillary, anplastic and medullary.

Papillary cancer is developed by the cells that contain iodine produced by the thyroid hormone. It grows slowly containing the cells that are same as healthy thyroid cells. It occurs at the rate of 60 to 80 percent of the thyroid cancer.

Follicular cancer is developed by thyroid cells and it can produce the iodine-containing hormones. This occurs at the rate of 10 to 30 percent.

Medullary thyroid cancer is difficult to control than follicular and papillary cancers. It is difficult as the cancer cells spread to other organs. Calcitonin is produced by the cells of medullary cancer. 5 to 7 % of the cancer is medullay cancer. Iodine does not contain in calcitonin.

The causes for the thyroid cancer are not known exactly. You can have certain factors that increase the risk of cancer.

Thyroid cancer develops due to certain factors:

• Family history with thyroid cancer

Here some information you have been looking for on the medullary thyroid cancer.

First of all let’s know some facts about thyroid cancer itself and later about the types of this diease.

You must know this! In the United States, thyroid cancer represents approximately 1% of malignancies occurring, accounting for an estimated 33,550 cancer diagnoses and 1,530 cancer deaths per year. Of these cancers, 2% to 3% are medullary thyroid cancer.

For medullary thyroid cancer the average survival is lower than that for more common thyroid cancers. The survival is 83% for medullary thyroid cancer and 90% to 94% 5-year survival for papillary and follicular thyroid cancer.

Decreased survival in medullary thyroid cancer can be accounted by a high proportion of late-stage diagnosis and is correlated with stage at diagnosis.

Characteristics of Medullary Thyroid Cancer

• Usually originates in the upper central lobe of the thyroid
• Poor prognostic factors include age >50, male, distant spread (metastases), and when seen in patients with other endocrine tumors due to MEN II-B syndrome.
• Spread to distant organs (metastasis) occurs late and can be to the liver, bone, brain, and adrenal medulla
• Not associated with radiation exposure

As a women, you should be very careful than men in case of thyroid cancer because this is more common in women than men, and very rare in children.

Here’s a short description on its occurrence, symptoms and the most common type of papillary thyroid cancer.

The occurrence of thyroid cancer is illustrated according to the statistics available.

In the U.S there are now more than 20,700 patients living with thyroid cancer and incidence has increased by over 20% in the last 5 years.

Approximately 1,650 people in the UK are diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year. It is a rare cancer that usually affects middle-aged and older people. However, one type of thyroid cancer (papillary) can occur in younger people.

So Many! Yes, there are four main different types of thyroid cancer. Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type. By examining cells from the cancer, your doctor will be able to tell which type you have. This gives information about the best type of treatment for you.

Experience a lump or nodule that can be felt in the neck. This is the most common symptom. Other symptoms are rare. Pain is seldom an early warning sign of thyroid cancer.