The medical community is still uncertain about the direct cause of thyroid cancer, but it is broadly related to these factors: abnormal iodine intake, genetics, and environmental factors. Iodine and the thyroid gland are very closely related. Thyroid hormone is very important to the human body and its deficiency will cause “cretinism” and incomplete development of intelligence and body, while thyroid hormone is synthesized by the absorption of iodine by the thyroid gland. The amount of iodine needed by the general body is 150-200 micrograms per day. Too much or too little iodine intake can lead to an increase in thyroid disorders. When there is an excess of iodine, the thyroid gland regulates itself to be insensitive to iodine, and the excess iodine is excreted with urine. After a period of time, even if a normal amount of iodine is consumed, the thyroid gland cannot absorb iodine and cannot synthesize thyroid hormones. The thyroid gland then regulates itself to a “hypersensitive” state and becomes hyperfunctional, and after a long period of excitement, the thyroid gland becomes overstretched and swollen. Similarly, when the amount of iodine is not enough, the thyroid gland becomes directly “hypersensitive” and works very hard, which makes it prone to problems over time. Why should painless lumps in the neck attract more attention? The survey found that many people have small lumps near the head and neck, but as long as they are not painful or itchy, most people will take their own medicine or simply ignore them. However, symptomatic lumps in the head and neck should be taken seriously, and asymptomatic lumps should not be taken lightly, as they may be signs of malignant tumor even if they are not painful or itchy. Painless neck lumps have a higher incidence of tumor, which means a higher possibility of tumor; on the contrary, the more neck lumps have some symptoms, the greater the possibility of non-tumor. Many neck tumors are found unintentionally, and the clinical manifestation is only neck lumps without other symptoms, especially in the early stage of tumor discovery. For example, thyroid cancer, thyroid adenoma, malignant lymphoma and various metastatic cancers (such as nasopharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, lung cancer, cervical lymph node metastasis), salivary gland tumors (benign and malignant tumors of parotid gland or submandibular gland), hemangioma, lymphangioleioma, nerve sheath tumor, paraganglioma, etc. are common in neck tumors, and most of them have no symptoms such as pain, skin redness and swelling. At this time, patients often ignore the possibility of tumor because of no other symptoms, thus causing delay in treatment. Once some malignant tumors lose the opportunity of early diagnosis and treatment, when the disease develops further and then go to the doctor, they are often in advanced stage and it is difficult to obtain satisfactory treatment effect. Ultrasound screening is the first choice for thyroid cancer. High-frequency ultrasound technology of thyroid gland can not only clearly show the anatomical structure, hemodynamics and microcirculatory perfusion of thyroid gland, but also detect tiny nodules of 2~3 mm, and at the same time, it can accurately distinguish between glial retention and substantial mass of thyroid gland, as well as determine whether necrosis has occurred in the substantial mass and other valuable information. Get out of three misconceptions of thyroid cancer treatment Misconception 1: Believing that drugs can completely cure thyroid tumor. From the current medical condition, there is no certain type or class of drugs that can cure thyroid tumor. Clinically, except for a few nodular goiter patients who have been fully diagnosed and have strict follow-up conditions, they can be treated with thyroxine preparations on a trial basis, but the rest are indications for surgical treatment. In other words, surgery is the only way to cure thyroid tumor. If you blindly follow the advice of non-professional doctors or believe in some so-called “special prescriptions” to carry out medication, you will only return without success and even cause delay. Misconception 2: Fear of surgery and avoidance of medical treatment. After hundreds of years of research and development, the surgical technique of thyroid tumor surgery has become a successful model of surgical treatment. Its operation technique is standardized, and under modern anesthesia, the pain is mild, and it has the advantages of excellent efficacy and less complications, which can completely eliminate the fear of surgery. Myth 3: Thyroid cancer is a malignant disease and cannot be cured. Except for undifferentiated thyroid cancer, which is rare (accounting for only 5%-10% of all thyroid cancers) and occurs mostly in the elderly, differentiated thyroid cancers (including papillary, follicular and medullary cancers) have a good chance of being cured. Among differentiated thyroid cancers, papillary carcinoma is the most common, accounting for about 75% of all thyroid cancers, follicular carcinoma is the second most common, and medullary carcinoma is the least common; papillary carcinoma is mostly seen in young and middle-aged women, and the disease develops slowly. Follicular carcinoma and medullary carcinoma can have a cure rate of more than 70% if they are treated timely at the early stage of the disease.