Thyroid Cancer Support

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First thing that comes to mind is: what is the thyroid gland and why do we need it for? Well, the thyroid is part of the endocrine glands and it’s purpose is to produce hormones, thyroid hormones. They are of essential importance to the body because through their help our body functions stay normal. These hormones have to role to regulate the way in which a person’s body carries on the important functions.

It is situated in the lower part of the neck, and in normal conditions, this gland cannot be felt. It consists of two lobes, a left and a right one, joined together by the isthmus. Other endocrine glands are the pituitary, the parathyroid, the pancreas, the ovaries and the adrenal glands.

As i have said before, a normal thyroid gland cannot be seen or felt. So if at one point, a person can feel a lump on their neck, that should be a sign of thyroid problems. Lumps must immediately be evaluated by a doctor, for they might be cancerous. Some of them are fast growing other develop in a slower way.

People who had any kind of radiotherapy in the neck area are more exposed to the threat of thyroid cancer.But not all diseases of the thyroid can be detected through enlargement of this gland. More common problems could be the production of more hormones than necessary, or even less. In these cases, there could exist an enlargement of the gland, but not in all cases.

To detect a thyroid problem, such as an abnormal function of the gland or a mass, one must see a doctor. In these cases, patients are asked about their medical history and given a physical exam as well. The first thing a doctordoes is to examine the thyroid galnd, by asking you to lift the chin, and even swallow during the examination. This is only a preliminary test. Others soon come, such as: an ultrasound exam of the neck, a radioactive scan of the thyroid, blood tests, biopsies and x-rays or other scans like MRI.

One of the procedures listed above is the biopsy, in medical terms fine needle aspiration. For more concludent results, doctors insert a needle into the lump to take tissue samples. More than one intervention of this matter may be necessary, but the procedure is almost without pain and there are no complications. This test tells if the lump is cancerous or not.

There are also diferent ways in treating thyroid gland problems, depending on the problem. We shall talk about them in the follow up of this article.

For more info regarding thyroid cancer please check http://www.thyroid-info-center.com/thyroid-symptoms.htm or http://www.thyroid-info-center.com/

People who notice unusual nodules in the neck should visit a doctor in a short time in order to find out if the nodules represents a malign or a bening tumor. Moreover, the doctor can examine the patient by a simple examination of the neck and also he can settle a proper diagnosis by performing certain laboratory tests which have the role to determine the function of the thyroid gland. Another way which describes how much the tumor has grown is represented by the staging of the cancer. For instance one of the most common test and tends to be quite efficacious is a nuclear medicine study with radioactive iodine. By using this test it can be easily found the etiology of a thyroid nodule and in this way a nodule may appear as “hot” which means that has a large amount of radioactivity and “cold” when it doesn’t take too much iodine. Both appereances of the nodules are bening, except the “cold” form which can be malignant in 15-20% of cases.

Moreover, thyroid cancer has the ability to spread and invade different parts of the throat, also affecting adjacent structured in the neck. The most common areas that tumors can affect include the tracheal and esophageal extensions, lymph nodes producing a lymphatic spread to the jugular and to the supraclavicular lymoh nodes and much more, the tumor may reach to the lumph nodes in the chest.

It is imortant to note that in some cases, thyroid cancer can affect ot only the areas around the neck such as lymph nodes, but also it can spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream. This travel of the tumor to other organs is known as metastases and even though this form is very rare, it can be quite severe due to its possibility to affect the lungs and bones. What is more is that staging system is very used in describing the extent of the affection in both the thyroid itself and the neck. In addition, the staging system used to describe thyroid tumors is the TNM system and is used to identify and descriebe various types of cancer. The TNM systems includes 3 components: T-Describing the extend of the “primary” tumor; N-describing the spread to the lymp nodes and M-describing the spread to other organs.

In conclusion, the patients who suffer from thyroid cancer have the posibility to find out the stage and extension of their affection by performing various test and in this way the physician may prescriebe an appropriate treatment.

For more info regarding thyroid please check http://www.thyroid-info-center.com/thyroid-conditions.htm or http://www.thyroid-info-center.com/thyroid-cancer.htm