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As Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, leading medical experts are reminding the public of the signs, symptoms and treatment options. So what is thyroid cancer and who is most at risk?
The odds of developing thyroid cancer in the United States are about 1.2% for all sexes, with a five-year relative survival rate of 98.3%, according to the latest figures from the National Cancer Institute. It is estimated that nearly 45,000 new cases will occur in 2021, or 2.3% of all new cancer cases and 2,200 expected deaths, or 0.4% of all cancer deaths.
If a patient notices a lump in the lower part of their neck, suggesting a thyroid mass, there is a high likelihood that the nodule is benign, several experts told Fox News. Dr Cord Sturgeon, professor of surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said only 5-10% of all existing thyroid nodules are cancerous, although children and elderly patients with new thyroid nodules are at risk. up to four times higher in thyroid cancer. .
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Nevertheless, the mass should be examined by a professional, followed by an ultrasound and / or a needle biopsy, specifies Dr. Adam Jacobson, head and neck surgeon, director of the NYU Langone Head and Neck Center and director of the NYU Langone Head and Neck Surgery Division.
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that sits at the junction of the trachea and the voice box, Jacobson said. Its main function is to produce thyroid hormone, or an essential hormone related to metabolism, Sturgeon said. Several experts told Fox News that thyroid cancers are often caught accidentally, when patients are tested for other reasons.
“In many cases, it really comes as a surprise to them and their families,” Dr. Robin Cisco, assistant professor of clinical surgery at Stanford, told Fox News.
Thyroid cancer is most often diagnosed in people aged 45 to 54, according to the National Cancer Institute, and about three in four cases occur in women, which is considered a decades-long pattern. By 2021, thyroid cancer is expected to be the seventh most common cancer in women, although it does not appear in the top 10 most common new cancers in men, Sturgeon noted.
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The thyroid is “an interesting organ because it can form all of these different types of thyroid cancers that have different levels of aggression,” said Jacobson, noting papillary and follicular thyroid cancers, considered to be some of the forms of cancer. most curable in the body, compared to anaplastic thyroid cancer, one of the most aggressive cancers in the human body, often diagnosed late and usually fatal.
Thyroid cancers rarely cause pain or abnormal thyroid function, Cisco said. However, apart from a lump, symptoms can include difficulty swallowing and changes in the voice. Most often, mid-neck masses usually don’t cause symptoms until they grow large and grow out of the trachea or esophagus, causing swallowing or breathing problems, Jacobson said, adding that a Thyroid cancer can also invade local structures, causing vocal disturbances. -cord paralysis because the nerve controlling the vocal cord lives behind the thyroid.
“I would recommend that people who have a problem, and certainly those who have noticed symptoms, to talk to their doctor or endocrinologist,” Cisco told Fox News.
Two of the most common risk factors for thyroid cancer are radiation exposure (from therapeutic radiation and fallout) and a strong family history of thyroid cancer, especially in first-degree relatives. It is not known what role other factors, such as lifestyle and eating behaviors may have on thyroid cancer risk, experts said.
Formal screening is not recommended for thyroid cancer, unlike breast and colon cancers, due to problems with overdiagnosis or the detection of small, non-threatening nodules in the thyroid. Most doctors will do blood tests to check thyroid function, looking for levels of T4 and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), or hormones produced by the thyroid and pituitary gland, respectively. However, a common misconception is that normal thyroid levels suggest a healthy thyroid.
“Unfortunately, the majority of thyroid cancer patients have completely normal thyroid levels,” Sturgeon wrote.
The rate of new thyroid cancers rose steadily until 2013, although its underlying cause was controversial, several experts said, as it may be due to better imaging and over-detection. . The rate has since stabilized and declined slightly in recent years, to an observed rate of 15.2 per 100,000 in 2013 compared to 13.5 per 100,000 in 2018, according to the latest available data. However, the incidence rate in patients under the age of 20 increased through 2018 to a rate of 1.3 per 100,000.
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