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How much will the removal of a malignant tumor of a thyroid nodule affect life expectancy?

How much will the removal of a malignant tumor of a thyroid nodule affect life expectancy?

Mine once heard an oncology teacher say that if I had to have cancer, then I would choose thyroid cancer. Among cancers, thyroid cancer is a blessing in disguise, generally speaking, because the prognosis of thyroid cancer is relatively better.

If a malignant tumor of the thyroid gland has been diagnosed, the latter can be more helpful in prolonging life than allowing it to develop or undergoing timely treatment. If you refuse to undergo surgery for fear that it will affect your life expectancy, you will be choking on your life.

I have a loved one close to me who has thyroid cancer, and surgery is the main treatment, which is even more effective when combined with medication after surgery, so surgery is an effective way for thyroid cancer patients to prolong their lives and control the progression of the cancer.

For the effect of thyroid function, this is something we can do by taking medication later in life to supplement the necessary thyroid hormones, which is still possible without affecting our daily lives. So don't be discouraged, relax and fight the cancer well!

The relationship between thyroid cancer and life expectancy may be of great concern to many patients. If you change the tumor of other organs, the cure rate may be much lower than the level of thyroid cancer. If it is very unfortunate to have a malignant tumor, it is unfortunate to have thyroid cancer.

How do I understand?

First of all, let's talk about the pathological typing of thyroid cancer, because pathological typing determines the degree of malignancy of most malignant tumors. Specifically, the less differentiated the tumor cells are, etc., the more likely they are to metastasize and the lower the average patient life expectancy.

There are four pathological types of thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular, medullary, and undifferentiated. The first two belong to the differentiated malignant tumors, which, as the name implies, are relatively less malignant, and it can be said that among all malignant tumors, this type of malignant tumor is the least malignant in the family of malignant tumors, with a 5-year survival rate, and even a 20-year survival rate, of more than 80%. This is at least 50% higher than the average for malignant tumors of most other organs. Medullary carcinoma, although more malignant than the differentiated type, still has a relatively high 5-year survival rate, while the worst undifferentiated type has a survival rate averaging only one year. The first two of these four types, the differentiated malignancies, account for more than 90% of all types, thus showing that thyroid malignancies are the least malignant of all malignancies.

Secondly, survival time is also associated with postoperative risk factors such as age, peripheral organ invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis.

Thyroid cancer is one of the malignant tumors with a better prognosis because it grows on the surface of the body and is easier to be detected. Coupled with the popularity of medical checkups, many patients are able to detect the tumor at an early stage.

Broadly speaking, thyroid cancer can be categorized asDifferentiated (DTC)undifferentiatedwhich accounted for 80-90% of the former.Overall, the 10-year survival rate for differentiated thyroid cancer is 85%. Most are cured by surgery.

Even if lymph node metastases are present at the time of discovery, surgical resection combined with treatment with iodine-131 and thyroid suppressors results in long-term survival in most cases.

However, if it is detected late at the time of consultation and multiple lymph node metastases or lung metastases are already present, the likelihood of a cure is greatly reduced, especially if theRefractory thyroid cancer (RR-DTC), treatment becomes difficult due to insensitivity to iodine-131 therapy. Clinical statistics show that even if metastasized, the 10-year survival rate for patients with thyroid cancer that is sensitive to iodine-131 can be as high as 60 per cent, while the 10-year survival rate for patients with refractory thyroid cancer is only 10 per cent.

additionallyundifferentiated carcinomaThe incidence of thyroid cancer is very low, but it is a highly malignant tumor, and the natural survival time for undifferentiated carcinoma is often only a few months.

Therefore, the impact on survival after resection of thyroid malignant tumors is closely related to the stage and staging of the tumor, but overall, the prognosis is much better than that of malignant tumors in other parts of the body.

Thyroid nodule is a relatively common condition, thyroid nodule tumor is the lightest kind of tumor, thyroid nodules are divided into benign and malignant tumors, benign nodules account for the majority, malignant nodules account for a very small number of.

Thyroid nodule malignant tumors are usually treated by surgery, patients need to be based on their own tumor by professional doctors to develop treatment plans, not blindly, the way of surgery professional doctors will be based on the condition of the tumor, the operation may damage the peripheral nerves and produce some after-effects of the operation, such as hoarseness, loss of voice, swallowing difficulties, permanent iodine deficiency, recurrence and so on. However, if the surgery is successful, it basically will not affect the patient's life expectancy, and the survival time after the surgery is relatively long. Nowadays, the medical science is getting more and more advanced, and the success of thyroid tumor treatment is very high, so don't worry too much and put your mind at ease.

It is recommended to find a better hospital for the surgery. After the surgery, you usually need to take thyroxine tablets and go back for regular checkups, every six months, to prevent the recurrence of thyroid tumors. Diet after surgery should be more high protein food and more fruits and vegetables.

Instructor: Sun Wei, Attending Physician, Department of Surgical Oncology, Lu'an People's Hospital.

Specialties: Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and cancer pain relief treatment for various benign and malignant tumors such as thyroid cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, etc.

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Thyroid nodules, not necessarily malignant tumors, can be benign nodules, and most of the cases are benign nodules, and because of this, too aggressive so-called thyroid cancer screening, will screen out a large number of nodules (in fact, most of the nodules are benign nodules) and the person concerned with the psychological pressure, and for this reason, the anxiety tangled troubles, which may also lead to over-diagnosis of over-treatment (in general, that is, excessive surgery), originally did not need surgery or not urgent surgery, but have surgery to remove all the thyroid or part of the thyroid tissue, which of course has a negative impact. There is certainly a negative impact of having surgery to remove all or part of the thyroid tissue when surgery is not needed or is not urgently needed.

But the question is, how much will the removal of a malignant tumor of thyroid nodule affect life expectancy? Since they are malignant tumors, of course, they are usually removed. For the thyroid, most malignant tumors are thyroid cancers of epithelial origin (and most are differentiated thyroid cancers), while a few may be sarcomas of mesenchymal origin, or lymphomas.

Take thyroid cancer as an example, its first choice of treatment is surgical resection. Regardless of pathological types (differentiated or undifferentiated), as long as there are indications for surgery, that is to say, as long as it is possible to be surgically resected, surgical resection should be done as far as possible, and it is the most important means of treatment for thyroid cancer. For differentiated thyroid adenocarcinoma (papillary and follicular carcinoma), even if distant metastasis occurs (i.e., advanced stage), as long as the condition permits, total thyroidectomy should be considered as far as possible, and metastatic foci, if the condition permits, should be surgically resected as far as possible, so that iodine 131 treatment can be carried out after the surgery, in order to strive for a better therapeutic effect, and even have a chance to have a long term survival.

It is clear that surgical removal of thyroid cancer has a positive impact on life expectancy, which means that the patient's survival can be prolonged and the chance of a cure can be pursued. Without surgical removal, it is difficult to achieve this efficacy by means of surgery alone.

The development of science and technology and the progress of society have contributed to the rapid development of medicine. Although medicine is highly developed, cancer is still changing and developing faster than cancer. People still talk about cancer, but there is one cancer that is not as scary as imagined, that is thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer arises from malignant changes in thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules are categorized into benign and malignant nodules. Benign thyroid nodules can be unilaterally multiple or bilaterally multiple. They can be stable and unchanged, or they can increase in size. If they increase in size to a certain degree, compressing blood vessels and affecting breathing, the nodules can be surgically removed, and the removal will have no effect on your life. Malignant nodule is the legendary thyroid cancer, which is divided into differentiated thyroid cancer and undifferentiated thyroid cancer. After surgical removal of thyroid cancer, it can basically be cured, and will not affect the life expectancy, nor will it affect the future life, and if it is well controlled, it will even prolong the life expectancy. After total removal of the thyroid gland, it will cause the lowering of the thyroid function, resulting in hypothyroidism, so after the operation, it is necessary to supplement thyroxine tablets as a way to maintain the normal metabolism of the human body, and to reduce the secretion of thyrotropin by the brain, so as not to lead to the hyperplasia of the thyroid gland, which can satisfy the physiological need and It can not only meet the physiological needs, but also inhibit the growth of the tumor. After thyroidectomy, regular follow-up is needed to prevent recurrence.

Thyroid tumor is considered to be the one that saves people's heart among the tumors. As long as reasonable medication is used, regular follow-ups are made, attention is paid to nursing care, and regular living habits are established, no staying up late at night, no alcoholism, no smoking, life and life expectancy basically won't be affected after the operation. Thyroid disease and emotion are also closely related, do not be overly anxious, relaxation is also a favorable weapon to prevent thyroid disease.

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Thyroid nodules are classified into benign nodules and malignant nodules, and malignant nodules are what we call malignant tumors of the thyroid. Thyroid cancer is one of the tumors with the best prognosis. If God wants you to choose and get a kind of cancer, you must choose thyroid cancer, because after thyroid cancer surgery, it does not affect eating or drinking, and does not need chemotherapy, and the prognosis is very good, with a 5-year survival rate of more than 90, which basically has no major impact on life expectancy.

There are four types of thyroid cancer, papillary, follicular, medullary and undifferentiated, the first three of which are called differentiated thyroid cancers.

A differentiated thyroid cancer

These three types of tumors are papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, and medullary carcinoma, which have a good prognosis, and can be removed by surgery alone, and need long-term oral eugenol after surgery, and may need radioactive iodine 131 treatment if high-risk factors are found after surgery or if it has recurred. For differentiated thyroid cancer, no radiotherapy is needed after surgery.

Undifferentiated thyroid cancer

The incidence is very low, common in the elderly, and accounts for no more than 5% of all thyroid cancers. However, the prognosis for differentiated thyroid cancer is very poor, with death usually occurring within six months of diagnosis.

If you have differentiated thyroid cancer, surgical removal of the cancer will basically not affect your life expectancy and you can survive for a long time, thyroid cancer is one of the tumors with the best prognosis.

With the popularity of thyroid checkups and thyroid ultrasounds, the number of people finding thyroid nodules is increasing day by day. Of all the thyroid nodules, some are malignant. Many people immediately panic when they hear thyroid cancer, after all, with the word cancer. Comparing cancer to bad guys, in fact, thyroid cancer belongs to the not-so-bad kind of bad guys. Thyroid cancer is one of the warmest types of cancer, which does not affect daily life and work after treatment. I have several classmates and colleagues who are working normally after thyroid cancer surgery.

Thyroid cancer is common in women, and more than 90% of them are papillary cancer. Papillary thyroid cancer is known for its good prognosis among malignant tumors, with a 10-year survival rate of more than 95%. In the absence of metastasis, the vast majority of them can reach clinical cure through surgery without affecting the survival, and there is no need for radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery, as long as oral eugenol replacement therapy. Generally we believe that thyroid cancer is cured if it reaches a ten-year tumor-free survival.

In recent years, due to advances in ultrasound technology and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy, there has been a significant increase in the detection rate of thyroid cancer in the population, most of which are micropapillary thyroid carcinomas. According to the definition of the World Health Organization, micropapillary thyroid carcinoma refers to those papillary carcinomas with a diameter of 1 cm or smaller that are found incidentally, and is the most common subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Micropapillary thyroid cancer has a better prognosis. It is because the prognosis is so good that at the Porto Thyroid Cancer Conference at the turn of the century, experts proposed avoiding the term carcinoma when a typical micropapillary thyroid cancer occurs in an adult and replacing it with a micropapillary tumor.

The incidence of thyroid cancer has tripled in the last fifty years, but its mortality rate has remained stable, thanks to improved screening, better surgical techniques and more comprehensive post-operative treatment and management. Early detection of thyroid cancer remains a key tool in improving its cure rate. Pathologic type is another key factor in determining prognosis, with papillary carcinoma having the best prognosis, follicular carcinoma having a slightly worse survival rate, and undifferentiated carcinoma having the worst survival rate, with a dismal two-year survival rate.

Many thyroid cancer patients are most concerned about whether the disease affects life expectancy although it is the mildest form of cancer, and how much it affects them. this has to be spoken with data, and the prognosis varies from person to person. the MACIS score is the scoring system of the U.S. Mayo Medical Center for the prognosis of thyroid cancer, and it is considered to be the most accurate scoring system for papillary thyroid cancer at present. The specific scores are as follows: M: for whether there is distant (liver, lung) metastasis Yes +3 points, No 0 points; A: for age <39岁=3.1分 若>40 years = 0.08*years; C: for whether the tumor is completely resected No +1 point Yes 0 points; I: for whether there is invasion of extra-thyroidal tissues Yes +1 no 0 points; S: for the size of the tumor 0.3*tumor diameter. When the total score is <6: the 20-year survival rate is 99%; 6-6.99: the 20-year survival rate is 89%; 7-7.99: the 20-year survival rate is 56%; ≥8: the 20-year survival rate is 24%. For example, in a woman in her 30s with thyroid cancer, if the tumor is small and has not invaded extra-thyroidal tissues, the 20-year survival rate after complete resection is 99%, which is a very low-risk patient and basically does not affect life expectancy.

Malignant tumors of thyroid nodules are classified into papillary, follicular, undifferentiated and medullary carcinomas. Among them, papillary carcinoma is well-differentiated, slow-growing and of low malignancy, so it has the highest cure rate among all thyroid cancer types, with a cure rate close to 95% or more. Undifferentiated carcinoma, on the contrary, has a high degree of malignancy and is prone to distal metastasis, and has a poor prognosis, with an average life expectancy of no more than 3-6 months, and a one-year survival rate of only 5-10%.

In all thyroid cancer treatments, it depends on the development of the tumor course. If the mass is not big enough to remove the whole thyroid gland, then it will not affect the later life and life at all, because the part of the thyroid gland that has not been removed will still be able to secrete thyroid hormones as usual to maintain the basic function.

However, if the thyroid cancer mass is relatively large and needs to be removed completely, it will still have some impact on the body in the later stage, and you will need to take thyroxine tablets for life to maintain the function. In addition, the diet may also be useful to restrict, for seafood, shellfish, kelp, sea vegetables and other foods with high iodized salt content, try to reduce consumption.

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Many people are very alarmed when they hear that they have malignant thyroid nodules and worry that they won't live long. In fact, malignant thyroid nodules are not that scary, and compared to other malignant tumors, malignant thyroid nodules can be considered a type of cancer with the highest survival rate.


Malignant thyroid nodules usually do not have much impact on life expectancy after removal, and according to cases of thyroid cancer, 80% of patients achieve a 20-year survival rate after surgery, but of course this is if they are detected early and treated in a timely manner. As with other malignant tumors, the likelihood of a cure decreases if the disease is treated at an advanced stage.

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