Thyroid tumors are divided into two categories: benign and malignant. Benign tumors include nodular goiter, thyroid adenoma, chronic thyroiditis, etc. Malignant can be classified into papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, medullary carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma and lymphoma according to pathology. Benign tumors Benign tumors, if relatively small, usually have no obvious symptoms and most of them do not need surgery. However, if the tumor is large, it may cause corresponding symptoms, such as obvious protrusion affecting the appearance of neck, compression of trachea and esophagus, breath-holding (aggravated during sleep), poor swallowing, etc. In a few cases, tumor compression of laryngeal nerve may cause hoarseness. If you have the above mentioned symptoms, you can consider surgery, the scope of resection should be small, and try to avoid total thyroidectomy. In addition to the above symptoms, malignant tumors may also have other symptoms such as enlarged lymph nodes on one side or both sides. Medullary carcinoma may show symptoms such as facial flushing, palpitation and diarrhea. With the widespread use of thyroid ultrasound in routine physical examinations, many early thyroid cancers without any symptoms are detected and treated. Different treatments are chosen for malignant thyroid tumors depending on the pathology. The common pathological classification of thyroid tumors is 1. papillary carcinoma is the most common, accounting for 70-80% 2. follicular carcinoma is the second most common, accounting for 10-20% 3. medullary carcinoma accounts for 3-8% 4. undifferentiated carcinoma accounts for 3-5% Among them, the first two types of tumors are collectively called differentiated thyroid cancer and have a better prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 80-95% and a 10-year survival rate of 50-90%. However, the prognosis of patients is age-related. If the patient is older than 45 years old, the survival rate decreases compared to that below 45 years old. Medullary carcinoma is between differentiated and undifferentiated types, with 5-year survival rate of about 80% and 10-year survival rate of 70-75%. In contrast, undifferentiated carcinoma includes large cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, sarcoma, carcinosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and poorly differentiated papillary carcinoma and follicular carcinoma of the thyroid gland, etc. The prognosis is extremely poor, with most patients dying within 1 year and the 5-year survival rate about 5-15%. Surgical treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer and medullary carcinoma generally includes thyroid lobe + isthmus resection on the side of the lesion, total thyroidectomy if necessary (including for some high-risk recurrent patients), ipsilateral lymph node dissection in the tracheoesophageal groove, cervical lymph node dissection if lymph node metastasis is found on one or both sides, mediastinal lymph node dissection if there is mediastinal lymph node metastasis, and sternal dissection if necessary. If necessary, the sternum should be split. As for the treatment of undifferentiated carcinoma, if the tumor is small, it can refer to the above treatment. If the tumor is large and invades the surrounding tissues, such as trachea, esophagus, larynx, blood vessels, etc., even if the surgery can be basically cut, the tumor may recur and metastasize soon, or even die. Therefore, palliative resection is recommended to avoid sacrificing vital organ functions. For patients who may invade trachea or have difficulty in breathing, prevent or elective tracheotomy is performed to maintain the patency of airway. Postoperatively, patients with undifferentiated carcinoma should be routinely treated with radiation therapy, supplemented with chemotherapy if necessary, to slow down or control the recurrence of the tumor. For primary lymphoma of thyroid gland, comprehensive treatment of lymphoma, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy, should be carried out promptly after diagnosis, which can obtain better efficacy.