Thyroid Cancer Surgery

Thyroid Cancer Treatment in Chembur, Mumbai

The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland located in your neck. It regulates your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight through hormones. 

Cancer in the thyroid gland leads to the malignant growth of cells in the gland. The cells of the thyroid gland undergo mutation and multiply rapidly to form an abnormal mass. This abnormal mass can also invade the surrounding tissue structures and spread to the other parts of your body.

Thyroid cancer can either be aggressive or slow progressing. Most cases of thyroid cancers respond well to treatments.

What Are the Symptoms of Thyroid Cancer?

In the early stages, thyroid cancer may not present any signs or symptoms. But as it grows, it can lead to pain and a lump in your neck. Other symptoms include a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, and swelling of the lymph nodes.

If you have any of these symptoms, get yourself assessed for cancer.

Request an appointment at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Chembur, Mumbai

Call 1860 500 2244 to book an appointment.

What Are the Treatment Options Available for Thyroid Cancer?

Treatment for thyroid cancer depends on the type and extent of your cancer and also your overall health. Thyroid cancers are often curable. Although surgery is the prime therapeutic approach for thyroid cancer, other treatment approaches are available as well. These treatment options include:

• Radioactive Iodine therapy
  It involves administering large doses of radioactive iodine to destroy any microscopic areas of thyroid cancer missed during surgery. It is effective in treating recurrent thyroid cancers or metastasized cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy
  Radiation therapy is only recommended for thyroid cancer if surgery is not an option. Your doctors may also recommend radiation therapy following surgery to ensure the destruction of all the cancerous growth. 
• Chemotherapy
  It involves administering drug treatment through an IV infusion to kill all the rapidly growing cells (including cancer cells). Prescribed in combination with radiation therapy, it can be beneficial in treating anaplastic thyroid cancer.
• Alcohol ablation
  Alcohol ablation involves injecting alcohol into smaller thyroid cancers using imaging for precision. It can shrink the cancer mass. A viable option for smaller cancer mass where surgery is not an option, doctors recommend this procedure for recurring cancer in the lymph nodes following surgery.

What Does Surgery for Thyroid Cancer Entail?

Surgery is the best treatment approach for thyroid cancers. Except for some cancers - such as anaplastic thyroid cancer, all other types of thyroid cancers are surgically removable.

• Lobectomy
  In this surgery, surgeons excise only one lobe of the thyroid containing cancer. Papillary or follicular types of cancer that are small without any signs of spread respond to this surgical procedure. Lobectomy can also help diagnose thyroid cancer if the biopsy results prove inconclusive.
  As it spares part of the thyroid, you may not require hormone therapy after the surgery. However, it will interfere with radioiodine scans and thyroglobulin blood tests. These tests can help assess the recurrence of thyroid cancer.
• Thyroidectomy
  Thyroidectomy is a surgery to remove the entire thyroid gland. In some people, the surgeons may be unable to remove the gland (entirely) and be forced to leave part of the thyroid behind. Such surgery is called a near-total thyroidectomy. Thyroidectomy is the most common surgery for thyroid cancer.
  You will have an incision scar running down the front of your neck. The surgery will remove all of the thyroid tissues, causing dependence upon thyroid hormone pills for life.
  An advantage over lobectomy - your doctor can test to check for recurrence.
• Lymph node resection
  When removing your thyroid, your surgeon can also remove the surrounding lymph nodes in your neck. It ensures you do not get the recurrence of cancer. 

What Are the Risks of Thyroid Surgery?

Although surgical complications are less likely to occur if the surgeon is skilled, thyroid surgery does carry some risk. Common risks and complications of thyroid surgery include:

• Excessive bleeding
• Infection
• Damage to parathyroid glands affecting the calcium levels in your body
• Damage to the nerves of your vocal cords - vocal cord paralysis, hoarseness, or voice changes
• Difficulty breathing and swallowing

References

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/treating/surgery.html

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/treating/by-stage.html

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/surgery/specialty-areas/surgical-oncology/endocrine/patient_information/thyroid_surgery.html