Thyroid Cancer is the cancer that occur in thyroid gland.
The diagram of our thyroids as following;
Thyroid cancer can spread into nearby tissues and to other parts of the body.Most common thyroid cancers are:
1. Papillary Carcinoma
2. Follicular Carcinoma and Hurtle Cell Carcinoma (subtype of follicular carcinoma)
3. Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma
4. Anaplastic Carcinoma
5. Thyroid Lymphoma
6. Parathyroid Cancer
Papillary Carcinoma
Papillary carcinoma is thyroid cancer that typically grow very slowly.
Usually they develop in only one lobe of the thyroid gland, but sometimes they occur in both lobes.
Even though they grow slowly, papillary carcinoma often spread to the lymph nodes in the neck. But, most of the time, this can be succesfully treated and is rarely fatal.
Follicullar Carcinoma
Follicular carcinoma is the next most common type of thyroid cancer.
It is also sometimes called follicular cancer or follicular adenocarcinoma.
Follicular cancer is much less common than papillary thyroid cancer, making up about 1 of 10 thyroid cancers.
It is more common in countries where people don't get enough iodine in their diet.
These cancers usually remain in the thyroid gland.
Unlike papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinomas usually don't spread to lymph nodes, but some can spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or bones.
The prognosis for follicular carcinomas is probably not quite as good as that of papillary carcinoma, although it is still very good in most cases.
Hurthle Cell Carcinoma
Hurthle cell carcinoma also known as oxyphil cell carcinoma. It is actually a kind of follicular carcinoma.
This type accounts for about 4% of thyroid cancers.
The prognosis may not be as good as that of typical follicular carcinoma because this subtype is harder to find and treat as it is less likely to absorb radioactive iodine.
Radioactive iodine is used for treatment and to find metastases of differentiated thyroid cancer.
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma
Medullary thyroid carcinoma accounts for about 5% of thyroid cancers.
It develops from the C cells of the thyroid gland.
Sometimes this cancer can spread to lymph nodes, the lungs, or liver even before a thyroid nodule is discovered.
These cancers usually make calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which can be found by blood tests.
Calcitonin is a hormone that helps control the amount of calcium in blood.
CEA is a protein made by certain cancers, such as colorectal cancer and MTC. Because medullary cancer does not absorb or take up radioactive iodine (used for treatment and to find metastases of differentiated thyroid cancer), the prognosis (outlook) is not quite as good as that for differentiated thyroid cancers.
There are 2 types of MTC.
The first type, occurring in about 8 of 10 cases, is called sporadic MTC.
Sporadic MTC is not inherited; that is, it does not run in families. It occurs mostly in older adults and in only 1 thyroid lobe.
The other type of MTC is inherited and can occur in each generation of a family.
These familial MTC often develop during childhood or early adulthood and can spread early. Patients usually have cancer in both thyroid lobes and in several areas of each lobe. They are often linked with an increased risk of other types of tumors.
Anaplastic Carcinoma
Anaplastic carcinoma (also called undifferentiated carcinoma) is a rare form of thyroid cancer, making up about 2% of all thyroid cancers.
It is thought to sometimes develop from an existing papillary or follicular cancer.
This cancer is called undifferentiated because the cancer cells do not look very much like normal thyroid tissue cells under the microscope.
This is an aggressive cancer that rapidly invades the neck, often spreads to other parts of the body, and is very hard to treat.
Thyroid Lymphoma
Lymphoma is very uncommon in the thyroid gland.
Lymphomas are cancers that develop from lymphocytes, the main cell type of the immune system.
Most lymphocytes are found in lymph nodes, which are pea-sized collections of immune cells scattered throughout the body (including the thyroid gland).
Thyroid Sarcoma
These rare cancers start in the supporting cells of the thyroid.
They are often aggressive and hard to treat.
Parathyroid Cancer
Behind, but attached to, the thyroid gland are 4 tiny glands called the parathyroids.
The parathyroid glands help regulate the body's calcium levels.
Cancers of the parathyroid glands are very rare; there are probably fewer than 100 cases each year in the United States.
Parathyroid cancers cause the blood calcium level to be elevated. This causes a person to become tired, weak, and drowsy.
High calcium also makes you urinate (pee) a lot causing dehydration, which can make the weakness and drowsiness worse.
Other symptoms include bone pain and fractures, pain from kidney stones, depression, and constipation.
Larger parathyroid cancers may also be detected as a nodule near the thyroid.
No matter how large the nodule is, the only treatment is to remove it surgically.
Unfortunately, parathyroid cancer is much harder to cure than thyroid cancer.
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