The results are combined to determine the stage of cancer for each person. Medullary thyroid cancer: If you had medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), your doctors will check the levels of calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in your blood. : This stage describes any localized tumor (T1, T2, or T3) that has spread to the central compartment of lymph nodes (N1a) but has not metastasized (M0). Whats the goal of these treatments? If the cancer does come back, treatment would be as described for recurrent cancer in Treatment of Thyroid Cancer, by Type and Stage. Your cancer can be stage 1, 2, 3, or 4. Currently, its not possible to know, on detection, whether any one small thyroid cancer will go on to grow and become a problem, Dr. Daviesadded. The job of the thyroid gland is to make hormones that help control heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. Its also important to follow recommended screening guidelines, which can help detect certain cancers early. The cancer can be any size (Any T). If your cancer does come back at some point, your treatment options will depend on the where the cancer is, what treatments youve had before, and your current health and preferences. It helps determine how serious the cancer is and how best to treat it. A lack of iodine may lead to another type, follicular, that doesn't typically spread to the lymph nodes. Sometimes, if surgery is not possible right away or at all, the cancer will be given a clinical stage instead. High-volume clinicians (those with >40 thyroid cancer patients in the past year) also were less likely than low-volume clinicians (20 cases) to recommend suppression for patients with low-risk papillary thyroid cancer and physicians who estimated a higher risk of recurrence (especially in excess of actual risk) were much more likely to recommend TSH suppression. Doctors use the results from diagnostic tests and scans to answer these questions: Tumor (T): How large is the primary tumor? Thyroid Differentiated and Anaplastic. The lung was the most common site of distant metastasis (84%). American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. Your doctor usually feels it in a physical exam. at the National Institutes of Health, An official website of the United States government. T4b: The tumor has spread beyond the regions in T4a (above). Often, surgery is enough, but when the tumors are larger or spread elsewhere in the body, your doctor may suggest radiation, chemotherapy, radioactive iodine, or targeted therapy that goes after specific cancer cell types. The N in the TNM staging system stands for lymph nodes. Papillary thyroid cancer can affect anyone, but it most commonly occurs in middle-aged adults. TX: The primary tumor cannot be evaluated. We can also help you find other free or low-cost resources available. The chance that a type of treatment will cure the cancer or help in some way, Your feelings about the treatment and the side effects that come with it, Damage to the parathyroid glands (small glands that sit behind the thyroid), Short or long term problems with your voice, Skin changes where the radiation is given. Tax ID Number: 13-1788491. With thyroid cancer, typically, making decisions about treatment isnt urgent, said Dr. Haymart. So, all people younger than 55 years with these cancers are stage I if they have no distant spread and stage II if they have distant spread. The echoes are made into a picture on a computer screen. The mechanism associated with the variable BRAF-mutant tumor aggressiveness remains unclear and other pathways are likely to . This study suggests that patients that have spread of the cancer outside of the neck when initially diagnosed should be treated aggressively, as this is the population that is most likely to die of thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer can cause any of the following signs or symptoms: A lump in the neck, sometimes growing quickly. They may be indications of other medical conditions such as inflammation of the thyroid gland . And from 1992 to 2017, the overall annual death rate from any thyroid cancer diagnosed during life was approximately the same for women and men. Taking higher doses of thyroid hormone may also help keep some kinds of thyroid cancer from coming back. A lump in the neck, just below the Adam's apple. ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about how doctors describe a cancers growth or spread. This page provides detailed information about the system used to find the stage of thyroid cancer and the stage groups for thyroid cancer, such as stage II or stage IV. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. Molecular testing has led to improvements, but I think theres more room for tailored care, said Dr. Haymart. If these cancers are found by chance, any intervention can potentially be overtreatmentthat is, therapy for a cancer that would have stayed the same or sometimes even gotten smaller, and never caused any symptoms. Noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid (goiter). Cancer metastasis: spread of the cancer from the initial organ where it developed to other organs, such as the lungs and bone. Pain in the neck or throat. T4a: The tumor has spread beyond the thyroid to nearby soft tissues, the larynx, trachea, esophagus, or recurrent laryngeal nerve. Surgery is the first treatment in most patients followed by levothyroxine therapy. All rights reserved. You may wonder about these treatments. Most people do very well after treatment, but follow-up care is very important since most thyroid cancers grow slowly and can recur even 10 to 20 years after initial treatment. Although each persons cancer experience is unique, cancers with similar stages tend to have a similar outlook and are often treated in much the same way. This means a higher dose of levothyroxine to keep the TSH levels lower than the normal range as is typically done for patients with thyroid cancers with a moderate to higher risk for recurrence. American Cancer Society medical information is copyrightedmaterial. The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team. Clinical trials are research studies that test new drugs or other treatments in people. Go to all your follow-up appointments, and tell your medical team about any new or returning symptoms. ", Hormone Health Network: "Thyroid Cancer. The cancer is no larger than 2 cm [0.8 inches] across and confined to the thyroid (T1). On the other, we do women a disservice if we say: Women only get the low-risk cancers. And within a stage, an earlier letter means a lower stage. A biopsy is the only way to tell for sure if you have cancer. Thyroid hormone therapy: patients with hypothyroidism are most often treated with Levothyroxine in order to return their thyroid hormone levels to normal. This is called staging. Tax ID Number: 13-1788491. But the type of cancer is based . Stage II: This stage describes a larger localized tumor (T2 or T3) with no spread to lymph nodes (N0) and no metastasis (M0). The cancer is any size and has grown into the strap muscles around the thyroid (T3b). The biggest challenge, said Dr. Haymart, is that its currently impossible to predict which tumors found by chance will pose a threat to health. It grows and spreads quickly to the neck and other parts of the body. Below are some of the resources we provide. This process is called staging. You can die with [such] a cancer never knowing you had it, Dr. Davies said. Women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) are more likely to develop PTC than men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB). Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks, ACS Center for Diversity in Research Training, Treatment of Thyroid Cancer, by Type and Stage. This means that, for many women, treating a thyroid cancer found in the absence of symptoms can have more harms than benefits. Learn more inSecond Cancers After Thyroid Cancer. These drugs go into the blood and spread through the body. You will have exams, blood tests, and maybe other tests to see if the cancer has come back. Cancer staging can be complex, so ask your doctor to explain it to you in a way you understand. Do you think it could cure the cancer? Since the 1990s, a boom in the use of thyroid ultrasound has led to thyroid cancer diagnoses more than tripling. Stage I: This stage describes any small tumor (T1) with no spread to lymph nodes (N0) and no metastasis (M0). But almost everyone diagnosed with a small papillary thyroid cancer will be alive 5 years after diagnosis. People whove had a thyroid cancer might still be at risk of getting some other types of cancers. Your doctor can tell you more about the kind you have. The vast majority of thyroid cancers are easily treatable and have a very good survival rate. Unlike diagnoses made in the living, the prevalence of undiagnosed small papillary thyroid cancer did not differ substantially between women and men. For more on how recurrent cancer is treated, see Treatment of Thyroid Cancer, by Type and Stage. The cancer is any size and has grown beyond the thyroid gland into nearby tissues of the neck, such as the larynx (voice box), trachea (windpipe), esophagus (tube connecting the throat to the stomach), or the nerve to the larynx (T4a). We know that these types of changes can have positive effects on your health that can extend beyond your risk of cancer. These treatments may be vitamins, herbs, special diets, and other things. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. But you might have: A lump ( thyroid nodule) in your neck. The stage describes the spread of the cancer through the thyroid gland. However, real-world approaches toward TSH suppression are not well understood. Cancer.org is provided courtesy of the Leo and Gloria Rosen family. In this group, 70% of patients had spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes in the neck and 57% had spread of the cancer outside of the neck. If you have a thyroid lump, you may need to have it tested. In general, pathological staging provides the most information to determine a patients prognosis. The American Cancer Society is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Or, this describes a localized tumor (T1, T2, or T3) with lymph node spread beyond the central compartment (N1b) but no distant spread (M0). The most common kind of thyroid biopsy is a fine needle aspiration (FNA). Typically, if a thyroid nodule is found, thyroid labs and a formal thyroid ultrasound will be . Such tests can help determine whether surgery is needed. If the tests show recurrent cancer, treatment is as described in Treatment of Thyroid Cancer, by Type and Stage.