How to identify whether a thyroid tumor is benign or malignant? Thyroid tumors are common tumors of the head and neck, mostly in women and not infrequently in men. It is a soft tumor in the front of the neck and a hard one in malignant cases. Thyroid tumors are divided into two categories: benign and malignant, how can they be identified? Generally benign tumors: Most neck lumps are solitary, slow-growing, and may have pressure symptoms when large. The lumps move up and down with swallowing, are smooth, soft, round or oval in texture, and may cause hyperthyroidism, or may change malignantly over time. If it has the following characteristics, you need to be careful if it is a malignant tumor, that is, thyroid cancer: a single lump with faster growth is more likely to be malignant; the younger the age of the thyroid lump, the more likely it is to be malignant; in addition, thyroid nodules with calcification should also be cautious. What are the early symptoms of thyroid cancer? A lump found in the thyroid gland with hard and fixed texture and uneven surface is a common manifestation of all types of cancer. The gland has little up and down mobility during swallowing. Undifferentiated carcinoma may show the above symptoms within a short period of time, and in addition to the obvious growth of the lump, it also has the characteristic of invading the surrounding tissues. In late stage, it may produce hoarseness, difficulty in breathing and swallowing, sympathetic nerve compression causing Horner syndrome and invasion of cervical plexus causing pain in ear, occiput and shoulder and local lymph node and distant organ metastasis. Cervical lymph node metastasis occurs earlier in undifferentiated carcinoma. In some patients, the possibility of thyroid cancer should be thought of when they seek medical attention because of metastases when the thyroid mass is not obvious. Patients with medullary carcinoma should exclude the possibility of type II multiple endocrine adenoma syndrome. Attention should be paid to the combined family history and the presence of diarrhea, facial flushing, and low blood calcium. Therefore, if thyroid nodules or tumors are found, it is important to visit the hospital early to get a clear diagnosis and early treatment.