What are the treatments for thyroid cancer without removal?

Non-resection methods for thyroid cancer usually include chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, etc. Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor originating from the thyroid follicular epithelium or parafollicular cells. If it is not removed in time, it may cause cancer cells to spread and metastasize, thus endangering the patient's life.

1. Chemotherapy: It is mainly used for patients who have undergone thyroid cancer surgery and other patients who cannot undergo surgical resection. Chemotherapy is required first to kill any remaining cancer cells.

2. Endocrine therapy: radioactive iodine therapy. Radioactive iodine can emit beta rays, and the ionizing radiation biological effects produced by the rays will damage thyroid tissue and cancer cells, and have no significant effect on the patient's long-term survival rate. Radioactive iodine therapy is also one of the conventional treatments for thyroid cancer, but it needs to be used under the guidance of a doctor;

3. Radiotherapy: During the decay process, radioactive iodine will emit radiation and have a certain killing effect on the tissues around the thyroid gland, causing inflammation and even fibrosis in the tissues around the thyroid gland. Residual cancer cells in the thyroid tissue may grow again into lesions visible to the naked eye, thus achieving the effect of controlling the tumor;

4. Targeted therapy: refers to the identification of mutated genes of thyroid cancer after genetic testing, and the use of specific drugs to treat the gene site, which greatly improves the prognosis of thyroid cancer patients.

In addition to the common treatments mentioned above, for patients with early thyroid cancer, surgical resection can be performed first under the doctor's advice. Although thyroid cancer can be cured through surgery, since thyroid cancer grows slowly, even patients with early thyroid cancer should undergo regular follow-up examinations after surgery.