Fact 7: Treatment of Thyroid Cancer – Combating the Disease
When it comes to treating thyroid cancer, several options are available, and the choice largely depends on the type and stage of the cancer, as well as the patient’s overall health.
Surgery is the most common treatment for thyroid cancer. It involves removing all or part of the thyroid — a procedure known as a thyroidectomy. If the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, these may also be removed during surgery.
Radioactive iodine therapy is often used after surgery to destroy any remaining thyroid tissue, as well as microscopic areas of thyroid cancer that weren’t removed during surgery. It’s particularly effective in treating papillary and follicular thyroid cancers, the two types that take up iodine.
External radiation therapy, where high-energy beams are directed at specific points of your body, can be used if the cancer is resistant to radioactive iodine treatment. It can also relieve symptoms if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as bones.
Thyroid hormone therapy involves the lifelong use of levothyroxine, a medication that supplies the missing thyroid hormone and suppresses the production of TSH, which could stimulate any remaining cancer cells to grow. (7)
