What are the different recurrence risks of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer is a common endocrine tumor in clinical practice. The risk of recurrence varies with different pathological types of thyroid cancer, mainly including papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, and anaplastic thyroid cancer.

1. Papillary thyroid carcinoma: It has a good prognosis and is common in young women. Its recurrence rate is low, generally below 10%. For older patients, patients with larger tumors or metastases, the risk of recurrence may increase;

2. Follicular thyroid carcinoma: Its prognosis is worse than that of papillary thyroid carcinoma, at 10%-20%, and its recurrence rate is also lower, generally at 5%-10%. For patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, due to its high degree of malignancy, even if surgical resection is performed, the recurrence rate is still high, up to 50%;

3. Medullary thyroid cancer: Its prognosis is worse than that of papillary thyroid cancer, at 10%-20%, and its recurrence rate is also lower, generally at 3%-10%. Medullary carcinoma may metastasize to lymph nodes, so the recurrence rate will be significantly increased in patients with lymph node metastasis;

4. Anaplastic thyroid cancer: It is the most malignant thyroid cancer, with a recurrence rate of up to 40%-90%. The recurrence rate of this type of patient is significantly higher than other types of thyroid cancer. Therefore, even if surgical resection is performed, the recurrence rate is extremely high, reaching 80%.

It is recommended that patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer should undergo surgery and lymph node dissection in a timely manner. Some patients also need postoperative radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, etc. Patients should also regularly review color Doppler ultrasound, thyroid function, parathyroid hormone and other indicators after surgery to understand the development of the disease.