THYROID CANCER

Most patients with thyroid cancer have a very good or excellent prognosis. Most are treated by total thyroidectomy and post-operative radio-iodine. Sometimes a neck dissection (removal of lymph nodes in the neck) is required if there is spread to lymph nodes in the neck.

Some patients are diagnosed before any surgery takes place and can have definitive surgical treatment (usually total thyroidectomy with or without neck dissection). However, sometimes the diagnosis is not or cannot bemade until an initial hemi-thyroidectomy is done. In that instance, in many cases, patients go one to have a completion thyroidectomy (removal of remaining ½ of the gland).

Some forms of thyroid cancer are more aggressive and careful consideration of the need for more complex surgery and radiotherapy as well.These include medullary cancer of the thyroid; thyroid cancer that has becomepoorly differentiated; and cancer in older patients in general.  More information about this can befound in the links section.

All patients, NHS and private, are discussed in the regional thyroid multi-disciplinary team meeting before treatment.