Thyroid Cancer Signs Or Symptoms
Thyroid cancer generally shows as being a thyroid nodule, or lump, that often might be felt inside the front in the throat. Most thyroid nodules are harmless; less than 5% are cancerous.
A thyroid nodule larger than 1 cm that is certainly discovered to have decreased iodine uptake on a nuclear medicine thyroid scan needs to be examined having a very good needle aspiration biopsy.
Hardly ever, thyroid cancer can present with other signs or symptoms, which include hoarseness; neck enlargement, causing difficulty breathing, or swallowing; cough; neck ache; swollen lymph nodes; or experience weightloss.
Exams and Tests
The diagnosis of thyroid cancer is typically tested by examination of cells obtained from a fine-needle aspiration biopsy or a surgical biopsy of a thyroid nodule.
In a fine-needle aspiration biopsy, a thin needle is inserted by way of the skin into the thyroid nodule and cells are withdrawn into a syringe and sent towards laboratory for analysis by a pathologist.
Blood tests tend to be normally not valuable in determining whether or not a specific thyroid nodule is cancerous. Most patients with thyroid cancer have normal blood levels of thyroid hormones, which include a thyrotrophic (TSH) level.
Another imaging analyses could possibly be valuable. An ultrasound in the neck can support identify local cancer spreading towards lymph nodes and blood vessels. Nuclear medicine imaging in the thyroid with radioactive iodine (I123) can identify a thyroid nodule with decreased iodine uptake (often referred to as being a "cold" nodule) that may well warrant further testing for cancer having a fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Computerized tomography (CT) in the neck might be applied to outline the extent in the thyroid tumor into the lymph nodes, blood vessels, and upper GI tract. Computerized tomography is in no way performed with IV contrast material if the patient is going to possess a radioactive iodine scan or treatment within six to eight weeks.
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Source: http://www.symptomsofthyroiddisease.com/thyroid-cancer-signs-or-symptoms)
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