Thyroid cancer Flashcards
What are the main types of thyroid cancer?
Papillary (70%) Follicular (20%) Medullary (5%) Anaplastic (1%) Lymphoma (rare)
Most common type of thyroid cancer
Papillary
Papillary cancer
- peak age, prognosis, treatment
Often young females
Good prognosis
Total thyroidectomy +/- node excision +/- radioiodine
Levothyroxine
Yearly thyroglobulin levels to detect recurrence
Follicular cancer - usual presentation, treatment
Usually present as a solitary thyroid nodule
Total thyroidectomy + T4 suppression + radioiodine ablation
Yearly thyroglobulin levels to detect recurrence
Medullary cancer - cancer of what cells?
Cancer of parafollicular cells, secrete calcitonin, part of MEN-2
Medullary cancer treatment
Treat with thyroidectomy + node clearance. External beam radiotherapy may reduce regional recurrence.
Anaplastic - average age, prognosis, treatment
Elderly females
Not responsive to treatment, can cause pressure symptoms
May be able to resect, if not then palliation through isthmusectomy and radiotherapy
Lymphoma – associated with?
Treatment
Hashimoto’s
Chemoradiotherapy
Benign neoplasms of the thyroid
Thyroid adenoma
Thyroid nodules
Papillary carcinomas usually contain a mixture of (blank) and (blank) filled follicles.
Histologically, the tumour has (blank blank) and (blank blank) nuclei.
They are (blank) encapsulated.
Papillary and colloidal
Papillary projections and pale empty nuclei
Seldom
How do papillary carcinomas usually metastasise?
Lymph nodes, by blood is rare
Follicular carcinoma may appear (blank) encapsulated, but (blank) capsular invasion is seen.
Macroscopically
Microscopically
Medullary carcinoma - where are C cells derived from?
Neural crest and not thyroid tissue
Which test is most likely to be of clinical use in screening for disease recurrence of medullary carcinoma?
Serum calcitonin
