Whether a patient can be cured after surgical removal of a malignant tumor of the thyroid gland, i.e. thyroid cancer, depends on the pathological type of the thyroid cancer and the stage of the surgery, in addition, even after the patient is cured, he/she may still need to take medication for a long period of time.
Thyroid cancer can be classified into papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer and undifferentiated thyroid cancer. Whether or not a patient can be cured after surgical resection is also related to the stage of the tumor. Early and middle stage papillary thyroid carcinoma, follicular thyroid carcinoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma can have a five-year survival rate of more than 90% after surgical resection, which can be considered as cured.
The five-year survival rate after surgery for advanced papillary thyroid cancer reaches 75%, that for advanced follicular thyroid cancer reaches 60%, and that for advanced medullary thyroid cancer is about 40%. Undifferentiated thyroid cancer, on the other hand, has a poorer prognosis and its average five-year survival rate is only 7%.
In addition, patients with thyroid cancer can experience low thyroxine levels after surgery to remove the thyroid gland, so patients may still need to take levothyroxine tablets for long-term treatment after they have recovered. If thyroid cancer surgery is required, please follow your doctor’s instructions for treatment.