The thyroid is the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is responsible for metabolism and hormone regulation.
There are several types of thyroid cancer.
The most common one is papillary thyroid cancer. It often grows in one lobe of the thyroid gland. Another common type is follicular thyroid cancer.
Current research has not found the cause of thyroid cancer, but scientists suggest that exposure to low-dose radiation may contribute to cancer.
Dr. David Goldenberg, chief of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Penn State Health, provides important information about thyroid cancer that people need to know.
According to him, the younger people are when exposed to radiation, the more likely they are to develop thyroid cancer. This is because the thyroid gland is sensitive to radiation.
Often symptoms of thyroid cancer typically do not appear until the cancer is more advanced.
Treatments of cancer include surgery to remove all or part of a cancerous thyroid gland.
Then patients may use radioactive iodine pills or liquids to kill any cancerous cells left behind.
The researcher suggests that the prognosis for thyroid cancer is very good and the cure rate can be 98%.
During the past three decades, the incidence of thyroid cancer has tripled.
The reasons may be that doctors scan more patients than before and that more people are developing the disease.
It is possible that obesity plays a role in the rise.
Future work needs to find the cause of cancer and better ways to detect the disease early.
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