Roughly 37,000 people are diagnosed with thyroid metastatic disease, or thyroid cancer, every year, according to the Mayo Clinic. The thyroid gland produces various hormones that help regulate your weight, blood pressure and heart rate. Although not one of the more common cancers, the metastatic aspect of the disease means it spreads to other parts of the body, the lymph nodes being the most likely area to be infected.
Surgical Options
One of the main options for treating thyroid metastatic disease is to surgically remove the cancer. This removes all or part of the thyroid. If the cancer is relatively contained, then only part of the thyroid will need to be removed. However, if it is widespread, then the whole gland will need to be removed. If the lymph nodes are infected, they will need to be removed also, to minimize the spread of the cancer. Other areas that may be infected by the disease include the lungs and the bones. If these are infected, therapy options will be necessary.
Therapy Options
There are several therapy options that can be used to try to cure the cancer. The first is chemotherapy, says MedicineNet. A drug is put into the body that kills existing cancer cells. Another way is to concentrate radiation on the outside of the body parts where the cancer is most prevalent. The remaining options focus exclusively on the thyroid gland. Radioactive iodine kills any remaining healthy cells in the thyroid, along with any remaining cancer cells that may have avoided detection and treatment through other means. It may also be used to treat any other parts of the body where the cancer has spread. The remaining therapy option is to undergo thyroid hormonal therapy. This provides your body with the hormone that your body would normally produce and prevents the development of a thyroid-stimulating hormone (THS), which can can contribute to future cancer cells growing.
The Mayo Clinic has reported an increase in thyroid cancer diagnosis in recent years, mainly due to the fact that increased technology has enabled detection of smaller forms of the cancer within the gland. New cancer treatments are currently being developed, which in the future may provide cures for thyroid metastatic disease.
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