Does thyroid cancer require surgery?

Thyroid cancer is a common malignant tumor of the thyroid gland. Whether thyroid cancer requires surgical treatment depends on the stage and pathological type of thyroid cancer. Patients with early-stage thyroid cancer can undergo surgical treatment, but patients with advanced thyroid cancer are not recommended to undergo surgical treatment.

1. Early stage:

1. Micro-cancer: refers to thyroid cancer with a tumor diameter of less than 10MM, also known as occult thyroid cancer, which is usually not accompanied by lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis. Therefore, patients with micro-cancer can choose to observe regularly and not undergo surgery for the time being;

2. Thyroidectomy on the affected side: If there are clear lymph node metastases on the affected side of the thyroid gland, the affected side of the thyroid gland can be removed and the neck lymph nodes can be cleared at the same time;

3. Complete resection: If the lesion has developed to the late stage and distant metastasis occurs, such as lung metastasis, liver metastasis, etc., surgical treatment is not recommended in this case, but radioactive iodine-131 treatment can be used.

2. Late stage:

If the thyroid cancer patient has a large tumor or invades surrounding tissues, causing symptoms such as hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, and difficulty breathing, and is also accompanied by lymph node metastasis, surgical treatment is not recommended at this time. The goal of treatment for patients with advanced thyroid cancer is to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life. Radionuclide therapy can be used for the primary lesion of thyroid cancer, and radionuclide therapy is also required after complete thyroidectomy. Patients with advanced thyroid cancer can also use endocrine therapy, targeted drug therapy, immunotherapy, etc. .

In addition to surgical treatment, thyroid cancer patients can also take chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc. Since thyroid cancer is a low-risk malignant tumor, most patients can be treated with surgical resection after diagnosis. However, even for early thyroid cancer, if there is lymph node metastasis or lung metastasis, combined treatment with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc. is required after surgery.