Metastatic thyroid cancer and what you need to know

What is metastatic thyroid cancer? Is the disease dangerous and what organs does the disease metastasize to? In today's article, doctors will help you answer those questions .

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• Thyroid cancer can metastasize to what parts?
• Symptoms of metastatic thyroid cancer
• Treatment for metastatic thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer can metastasize to what parts?

What is thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer is an abnormal multiplication of thyroid cells. These cancer cells proliferate to form malignancies. Then they invade and spread to the surrounding areas.

This is one of the cancers with a good prognosis. If detected early, the cure rate is high.

Thyroid cancer can affect both men and women, but is more common in women. The majority of patients with thyroid cancer are between the ages of 25 and 65 at the time of diagnosis. Factors that have been studied for thyroid cancer include:

• Effects of diet.
• Sex hormones.
• Environment.
• Genetic.

See more: Is nodular goiter dangerous and answers from doctors

Effects of diet

The first thing to consider is the amount of iodine in the food. A diet low in iodine or high in cruciferous foods can lead to elevated TSH levels. TSH is a thyroid stimulating hormone. And cruciferous foods inhibit iodine absorption.

Genetic

Most people with thyroid cancer have a family history of thyroid cancer. Therefore, the diagnostician recommends genetic testing. The goal is to check for abnormal genotypes associated with thyroid cancer.

Thyroid tumor has metastasized to the cervical lymph nodes

How far can thyroid cancer spread?

In the early stages of thyroid cancer, cancer cells only develop in the neck area. If the patient is not detected and treated in time, the cancer cells will grow and spread to nearby areas.

There are 2 types of metastasis:

• Direct metastasis: invasion of adjacent structures such as trachea, esophagus, etc.
• Lymphatic metastasis.

For lymphatic metastasis

Depending on the histological image, there are types such as:

Papillary thyroid cancer with lymph node metastasis

This is a slow-growing thyroid cancer, accounting for about 80-85%. The disease usually begins when nodules or cysts develop in one or two lobes of the thyroid gland.

Follicular thyroid cancer with lymph node metastasis

Thyroid cancer accounts for about 10-15%. Metastatic disease in the neck with a fast and distant growth rate. Most are diagnosed after surgery, about 10% of patients have second surgery.

Medullary thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer accounts for 5-10%, from parafollicular cells that secrete Calcitonin. This type of cancer is familial and endocrine related (endocrine multiple tumor syndrome IIa and IIb).

Undifferentiated thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer accounts for 1-2%. Approximately 50% of patients have pre-existing benign thyroid disease. Although accounting for the lowest rate of thyroid cancer, the disease progresses rapidly, causing local compression. It is difficult to detect and when detected, the disease is already at a late stage.

The most common group of lymph nodes is along the jugular vein, group I is very dangerous. Group VI along the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Some cases invaded the anterior tracheal and mediastinal lymph nodes.

Hematogenously metastasize to organs in the body such as the lungs or bones, less commonly thyroid cancer metastasizes to the liver, kidneys, and brain.

When thyroid cancer cells metastasize to organs located far from the thyroid gland, such as medullary thyroid cancer, most patients at this stage cannot be cured of the disease.

Symptoms of metastatic thyroid cancer

Metastatic thyroid cancer often has vague symptoms , so it is difficult for patients to detect their condition. However, each of us should pay attention to our health and visit a doctor when we have the following symptoms:

• Swollen and painful neck: This is one of the most common signs in the early stages. Metastatic thyroid cancer causes the lymph nodes to appear in the neck, causing the neck to become swollen and painful. Usually, the patient will not pay attention and think that this is just a manifestation of a normal sore throat
  , thereby subjectively not examining it.
• Difficulty swallowing when eating or drinking water: The patient has a feeling of being stuck in the throat, difficulty in eating. Over time, the patient gets used to the feeling of just eating liquid foods. This not only leads to anorexia but also affects the digestive system.
• Sore throat, hoarseness: Metastatic thyroid cancer causes damage to the neck, so the patient will have a sore throat. In addition, the lymph nodes in the neck swell and compress the vocal cords, causing hoarseness or altered voice. In case, this condition persists when it has been treated with many different methods but does not go away, you should see a doctor for examination because this is also a typical symptom of the disease.
• Diarrhea: Common in medullary thyroid cancer.

Treatment for metastatic thyroid cancer

Depending on the patient's condition and the type of metastasis of thyroid cancer, the doctor will recommend an appropriate treatment plan. During treatment, patients need to pay attention to their own diet and activities to help facilitate the treatment process and avoid recurrence of the disease. Currently, the most used methods in the treatment of metastatic thyroid cancer are:

Surgery

Surgery is the mainstay of treatment in thyroid cancer. Depending on the metastatic form of thyroid cancer, surgical methods include total lobectomy, total thyroidectomy, and subtotal or total thyroidectomy. The methods selected in surgery are to remove the entire lobe containing the tumor. Surgery was chosen to reduce the recurrence rate and improve the patient's standard of living, preparing for postoperative iodine radiation therapy. Avoid repeat surgery, scarring from previous surgery will increase the risk of complications for the patient.

Thyroid surgery images for cancer treatment

Iodine radiation therapy

Patients undergoing total or near-total thyroidectomy for follicular follicular thyroid cancer with lymph node metastases and metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma in the lymph nodes are considered for indications of radioactive iodine therapy . High-risk patients supported by this approach have lower rates of recurrence and mortality. The duration of treatment ranges from 6-8 weeks after surgery.

Treatment of I131 after surgery because:

1. Destroys normal thyroid tissue and residual goiter, increasing sensitivity.
2. Check for recurrence and metastasis with whole-body I131 scintigraphy
3. Thyroglobuline (a substance that plays a role in thyroid hormone synthesis) can be monitored in the blood to monitor recurrence of the disease.

Thyroid cancer is more and more common these days. Symptoms on patients are often non-specific, even the stages of thyroid cancer in different forms also have different symptoms, so patients will be subjective about their own health. Detecting the stage of cancer is an important factor in the treatment process.

Especially if the cancer has entered the final stage, the treatment will be more difficult. Therefore, we should check the general condition when the body shows signs of lasting changes or check the health periodically every year to make it easier to detect and treat the disease in time.