Will I feel weak and tired if I don't have surgery for thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor with a high cure rate among all cancers. Without surgical treatment, the patient's quality of life and survival time may be reduced, but it will not make the patient weak or afraid of fatigue. The main treatment for thyroid cancer is surgical resection, and the prognosis after surgery is closely related to the pathological type, stage, histological grade, age, and size of the thyroid tumor.

1. Pathological type: Common thyroid cancers include papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma and medullary carcinoma. These types of thyroid cancers are less malignant and have a better prognosis, so patients will not be afraid of fatigue if they do not undergo surgery.

2. Stages: Patients with early thyroid cancer often have no obvious symptoms, and may only have painless nodules in the neck. As the tumor grows, patients may experience symptoms such as neck pain, foreign body sensation in the throat, and difficulty breathing. Advanced thyroid cancer may metastasize to distant sites, such as lung metastasis and liver metastasis. At this time, the condition is more serious, and patients may experience discomfort or even life-threatening symptoms.

3. Histological grading: Common histological grading of thyroid cancer is 1-6. The higher the grade, the more serious the condition and the worse the prognosis. Therefore, it is difficult to avoid surgery for thyroid cancer. It is recommended that patients undergo surgery as soon as possible to avoid delaying the condition.

4. Age: Age is an independent risk factor for thyroid cancer. The peak incidence of thyroid cancer is before the age of 40, so it is recommended that patients undergo surgical resection as soon as possible;

5. Thyroid tumor size: When the diameter of the thyroid tumor is >5cm, the malignancy rate is usually high.

In addition, patients with thyroid cancer should also follow the doctor's advice to receive other auxiliary treatments such as radioactive iodine therapy, endocrine therapy, and external radiation therapy. Color Doppler ultrasound should also be checked regularly after surgery to observe whether the tumor recurs.