Back

How Dangerous Is Metastatic Thyroid Cancer?

Thyroid cancer is one of the cancers with a good prognosis if detected and treated in time from an early stage.

So, what is the danger of thyroid cancer? Which parts of the disease can spread to and how are the current treatments that are a common concern of many patients.

Right here, this article will help you answer questions about thyroid cancer metastasis.

What Is Metastatic Thyroid Cancer?

Thyroid cancer is an abnormal condition that occurs inside the thyroid gland, involves the cells of the thyroid gland, and is not under the control of the body. When cancer cells appear in the thyroid area, they form malignant tumors.

Although thyroid cancer is a dangerous disease, compared with current cancers, thyroid cancer is still rated as the disease with the best prognosis, according to oncologists. Especially when patients are detected at an early stage, the cure rate is very high, accounting for about 90%.

Ghp23hANOQSJUWX4BRt1oXVEuC4Zjs86E013PaC5dsHCOb9adsQvKW8RbOrw0TVNrzzSd5klHkdbUQNV_1616656387.jpg
Metastatic thyroid cancer has a prognosis that starts to deteriorate

Thông qua gương có thể nhìn thấy rõ phần nhô lên ở cổ hoặc sờ thấy khối u trước và sau cổ.

Because thyroid cancer in the early days has quite vague symptoms, it is difficult to recognize, only when the patient has a thyroid screening or periodic physical exam that they realize they have the disease.

If this is the case, the uncontrolled thyroid cancer cells go into a rapidly growing and spreading stage, and they begin to invade neighboring organs, even further organs in the body. At this stage, it's often called metastatic thyroid cancer or end-stage thyroid cancer.

Can metastatic thyroid cancer be cured? For metastatic thyroid cancer, the prognosis at this stage also begins to deteriorate, the survival rate of the patient just stops at about 28 – 51% depending on the specific case.

Until now, the exact cause of thyroid cancer has not been clearly identified. But factors that increase the risk of the disease can be:

• The patient's immune system is disturbed.

• Radioactive contamination.

• Age.

• Changes in hormone levels in the body.

• Have thyroid problems.

• Have a history of alcohol and tobacco addiction.

• Iodine deficiency in the diet.

• Overweight, obesity.

Metastatic Thyroid Cancer Signs

In the early stages of thyroid cancer, there is usually no obvious manifestation. However, by the time the disease progresses to metastatic thyroid cancer, typical symptoms include:

Tumor In The Neck

The most obvious sign when entering the stage of metastatic thyroid cancer is a large tumor that has invaded the front and back of the patient's neck, causing compression of the laryngeal nerve. Through the mirror can clearly see protrusion in the neck or feel the tumor before and behind the neck.

84XeUEi9Cq0ukC8e5nrADqDb3XEaQBljAcFYqOJk4WvC41GDcdf2LJ3neJtNMyFzYLn8MZ7B5NjsWBdA_1616656457.jpg
How does metastatic thyroid cancer cause health problems?

Not only that, when the invasive tumor causes pressure, makes eating and drinking of the patient difficult, leading to loss of health, weight loss, fatigue, and weakness.

There are a number of cases of invasive tumors that make the skin in the neck rough, causing internal bleeding, and even local superinfection.

Voice Change

The next typical sign of metastatic thyroid cancer is altered voice, sore throat, and hoarseness.

RvVkVf9h4o2Hm6bCxWHnffnuT67Fw8ZGInHxPsuU008AVnxFPHH66gPYP8veXfJyG8tTdKhr8icZH5i9_1616656555.jpg
Metastatic thyroid cancer causes a change in the person's voice

According to experts, the cause of the patient's voice change when suffering from metastatic thyroid cancer is due to the large enlarged nodes in the neck, causing compression of surrounding organs and vocal cords.

Not only that, if the condition is more severe, the patient may also experience prolonged breathing difficulty, impaired quality of life, and severe deterioration of health.

Lump In Throat

The growth of the tumor causes pressure and damage to the throat, leading to problems with eating and drinking, most notably feeling entangled in the neck, causing choking, difficulty swallowing.

At this time, people often tend to eat liquid foods to reduce discomfort. If the condition persists, the digestive tract and health also begin to suffer.

Pain In The Throat, Prolonged Cough

When thyroid cancer has spread, the neck area is the most damaged. Therefore, the patient may experience a sore throat. However, many patients are very easy to mistake for common cough and sore throat.

If the cough persists, the cough continues to stop, although many treatments have been applied but do not get better, you should not be subjective, you should visit early to rule out the cause of your thyroid problem.

To What Part Of The Body Is Thyroid Cancer Metastasis?

How far has thyroid cancer spread? In the early stages, thyroid cancer only appears and develops in the neck area.

However, when the tumor moves into metastasis, it spreads rapidly to the surrounding areas. Because the symptoms of the disease are quite vague, many people often think that this is just a goiter, so it is delayed in treatment.

Thyroid cancer cells can spread to parts far from the neck such as the liver, bones, lungs, brain … Based on the specific metastatic condition, the doctor will have an appropriate treatment regimen in order to prolong life expectancy and improve the quality of life for patients.

Thyroid Cancer Spread To Bone

Bone metastatic thyroid cancer is a condition in which cancerous cells in the thyroid gland have spread to the bones. When this situation occurs, it will cause the patient to suffer from bone pain, limited movement, affecting daily activities.

UkahdIhFsVPdHBlhg7leSxAKd6DVIvfvKDdFBfmAQUNK7VDBXin55O1sPWmi5hnFQRiu6XwGMzH86AYX_1616656623.jpg
What is the cause of thyroid cancer that has spread to the bones?

For bone metastatic thyroid cancer, treatment is usually given to patients using drugs that work to reduce bone pain. It may be combined with radiotherapy, iodine-131 thyroid hormone therapy for treatment, which is aimed at improving pain, preventing cancer cells from continuing to metastasize, and prolonging the patient's life.

Thyroid Cancer Spread Brain

The brain is an organ with a complex structure and plays an important role in controlling the life activities of the body. Therefore, when thyroid cancer brain metastasis is a very dangerous condition. The patient may experience symptoms such as headache, ringing in the ears, easy seizures, nausea when eating …

For brain metastatic thyroid cancer, current treatments are mainly to prescribe drugs to patients with appropriate doses to control disease symptoms well, while prolonging the patient's life. 

In fact, a cure for metastatic thyroid cancer to the brain is virtually impossible, meaning the proportion of patients facing the risk of death is very high.

However, keeping the mind comfortable, thinking positively, coordinating with the treating doctor, and having a scientific diet is very important to prolonging the longevity of the patient.

Thyroid Cancer Spread Lungs

For metastatic lung cancer, symptoms such as coughing up blood, fatigue, chest pain …

157fK3hqADErnm8EJqOLeFxA01buBjFqXZoX1EJy30Qq1n4S9RQIXAweo5eEgi5mxfZJiHY2c0lTFepU_1616656697.jpg
Where has thyroid cancer spread in the body?

When the thyroid cancer has metastatic lung, the main treatment is iodine burning radiation 131. However, the main purpose is to help the patient prolong life, it is difficult to cure completely complete point. The prognosis of metastatic lung cancer is very poor, with a high risk of death.

Thyroid Cancer Spread Liver

Liver cancer spreads liver cells will make the patient's health seriously impaired, the reason is that large tumors invade and cause pressure to the liver.

sxtBtIddk3UhnbxzllXpJGJN40EQzMuJjsPyykvCgmPUWsBHwLfV1hoxlEcL2NaXPpo6UZjyjuo3pvDE_1616656806.jpg
What is the treatment for metastatic liver cancer?

For the treatment of liver metastatic thyroid cancer, the commonly used method is to prescribe thyroid cancer surgery to remove the liver metastatic tumor, followed by the Iodine 131 method to kill the cancer cells. letter, helping patients relieve pain and prolong life.

Thyroid Cancer Spread To Lymph Nodes

Metastatic lymphoma is common in differentiated thyroid cancer (papillary and cystic form) and is easy to mistake for goiter.

The most commonly used treatment for metastatic lymphoma by doctors is surgery to remove the metastatic tumor, followed by iodine-131 radiation therapy to destroy the cancer cells, to prolong longevity for the patient.

Hopefully, through this article, you have more useful information related to metastatic thyroid cancer. For the best health protection, as soon as there are symptoms, the patient should go to the hospital for the most accurate diagnosis. During treatment, it is important to think positively, follow your doctor's instructions to get the best results.

Please find the nearby location or the nearest branch your home to visit for tests and get quick online results. For more detailed information about our test menu and price list, click here.

The site cannot and does not contain medical advice. The medical information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals.