”Thyroid cancer? What is it? Never heard of it, it’s far from me.” When asked about their impressions of thyroid cancer, this is almost always the answer given by those who have not experienced it. Unlike those who have not experienced thyroid cancer, “How long do you have to live?” is one of the most popular questions asked by thyroid cancer patients and their family members, who seem to have their whole lives shrouded in the gloom of impending death. In fact, thyroid cancer is not that far away from healthy people; it is not that heavy for patients. The real situation of thyroid cancer is too much to be expected. Chu Bingfeng, General Surgery Department, Shanghai Xinhua Hospital Thyroid cancer, one of the unexpected: ranking, breaking into the top five The spokesman of Argentine President Cristina de Kirchner declared, “Cristina’s tumor is benign.” It seems that the incident about the Argentine president having thyroid cancer was, I’m afraid, just a false alarm. Although, Cristina was lucky enough to avoid thyroid cancer, it is hard to guarantee that we ourselves, or those around us, will be so lucky. Thyroid cancer, a disease that too many people sound or feel unfamiliar with, or still feel far away from them, may be lurking around. “These days, I keep hearing about thyroid cancer, and then I see more and more thyroid tumor surgeries being done in the hospital, so I was really relieved that the nurses in the operating room met up with the surgeon to take a look, and to my surprise, two people were found to have thyroid cancer. “Next was a physical examination of the unit, and three more thyroid cancers were found.” ”The equivalent of a hospital with over a thousand people actually found a total of five thyroid cancer patients in a short period of time.” This is the true record of a nurse in a tertiary hospital on her blog. The nurse’s experience may be an isolated case, but the threat of thyroid cancer is real and will come head on. In the past 20 years, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased significantly and it is the fastest growing solid malignancy. In contrast, thyroid cancer favors women, with a ratio of 2 to 3:1 between women and men, and it has now become the 5th most common malignancy among women, more common than ovarian cancer. In this way, it seems that thyroid cancer is not far away, and maybe there is a patient with thyroid cancer lurking beside you or yourself. But you don’t have to worry about it all day long. Most cancers have an evil face. After cancer, even if you are lucky enough to survive, your life is often either in treatment or on the way to treatment. Thyroid cancer, on the other hand, is very different. A significant number of thyroid cancer patients can live long and well, and their treatment process is not as difficult. Which thyroid cancer patients can be treated more easily and live well all the time? It depends on the type of thyroid cancer itself. Papillary carcinoma and follicular carcinoma are differentiated thyroid cancers; medullary carcinoma is the less differentiated type of thyroid cancer; and there is also undifferentiated thyroid cancer. The better differentiated thyroid cancer is, the closer the tissue structure of the lump is to normal cells. With early detection and reasonable treatment, most patients can survive for a long time or even be cured. Fortunately, well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma account for 95% of all types of thyroid cancer. This means that 95% of thyroid cancers are mild and relatively easy to treat. According to statistics, this mild, well-differentiated thyroid cancer has an overall 10-year survival rate of 85%; even with metastases from other parts of the body, its 10-year survival rate can be 25% to 40%. Undifferentiated thyroid cancer, the least differentiated type, is very aggressive and is the most malignant type of thyroid malignancy, with distant metastases occurring in about 30% of patients at the time of consultation. Most patients with undifferentiated thyroid cancer have a survival period of less than 1 year. However, undifferentiated thyroid cancer is mostly seen in older patients, usually above the age of 65. Therefore, even if young people have thyroid cancer, they still have more chances of treatment and recovery. Thirdly, post-operative treatment can be done without chemotherapy. So, what should be done if you encounter this kind of mild thyroid cancer? In most cancers, after surgery, patients usually cannot escape from the long and painful chemotherapy process. The treatment process after surgery for well-differentiated thyroid cancer, on the other hand, is much easier. Usually, patients with early-stage thyroid cancer usually only need thyroid hormone medication after surgery, while patients with intermediate to advanced stages need to take a drug called iodine 131 (131I) orally after surgery as arranged by their doctors. Yes, this drug is the same iodine 131 that was recognized in 2011 during the nuclear meltdown in Japan. all residual thyroid tissue from surgery, and more than 80% of metastases from differentiated thyroid cancer, have the ability to take up iodine 131. Once iodine 131 is taken orally into the body, it is directed to the site of the lesion like a biological missile. Iodine 131 is a radioactive isotope with 78 neutrons in its nucleus, four more than stable iodine. Therefore, it decays when it reaches the lesion site. The beta rays, which are mainly emitted during its decay, have a short range of about 1 mm on average, which ensures that iodine 131 is able to destroy the surgical residual thyroid tissue and metastases of the lesion, with little effect on other surrounding normal tissues. Although the treatment with iodine 131 is oral, painless and relaxing, you still have to listen to the doctor and stay in the hospital for the whole treatment. This is because when a patient takes a large dose of radioactive iodine 131, he or she becomes a source of radiation, and a large dose of radiation is emitted from the body, which may expose the people around him or her to radiation damage. In addition, the patient’s excrement (urine, stool, mouthwash, etc.) also contains radioactive isotopes, and when it flows into the sewer, it will cause pollution of the surrounding environment and water, so it needs to be specially treated. Therefore, patients who receive internal radiation treatment must live in a ward with radiation isolation and wait until the iodine 131 in their bodies decays to the allowable dose before they can live with their families. Link: Isotope therapy for patients with mid- to late-stage nail cancer Exactly. During surgery, to avoid damaging the organs and nerves adjacent to the thyroid gland, doctors choose to preserve a very small portion of thyroid tissue. With residual thyroid tissue, there are hidden dangers. According to studies, serial pathological sections of total thyroidectomy specimens have confirmed the incidence of occult carcinomas on the contralateral side as high as 10%. These cancerous lesions are a source of later recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, patients with intermediate to advanced differentiated thyroid cancer need to be treated with iodine 131 to destroy residual or metastatic lesions after surgery. Unthinkable No. 4: Medicine is the key to prevent recurrence Besides oral iodine 131, taking thyroid hormone for a long time or even for life after surgery is also necessary for patients suffering from mild thyroid cancer. Taking thyroid hormone has two benefits for the patient: First, the patient has undergone surgery and the thyroid gland has been removed. The thyroid gland is supposed to “produce” thyroid hormone, so after surgery, the amount of thyroid hormone “produced” by the patient’s body will be greatly reduced. In order to maintain the normal level of thyroid hormone in the body, patients need to supplement the missing part of thyroid hormone. In addition, a proper supplementation of thyroid hormone can keep the thyroid stimulating hormone in the body at a relatively low level, which can prevent the recurrence of thyroid cancer. In addition to these two benefits, the additional thyroid hormone supplementation that patients need is quite inexpensive, costing only a dozen dollars a month. Therefore, there is really no reason for patients to refuse to take thyroid hormone for a long period of time, and they should follow the dosage recommended by their doctors and implement it without fail. Link: “Bow Tie” Calls for More Care The thyroid gland, a small organ that grows on the neck, has a beautiful name – bow tie – because of its resemblance to a butterfly. However, no matter how beautiful the name is, it can’t escape the fate of many disasters. In addition to thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism), and thyroid nodules are all threats that it may encounter. The good thing is that these diseases, if detected in time, are not complicated to treat and have better outcomes. Therefore, in order to protect the fragile and beautiful bow on the neck, it is recommended to have an annual physical examination of the thyroid gland. This includes thyroid function (which can be checked with a blood draw) and thyroid ultrasound.