Does hemisection of thyroid cancer still require low iodine?

If a thyroid cancer patient undergoes hemisection surgery, whether he still needs to follow a low-iodine diet after surgery depends mainly on the pathological type of thyroidectomy and whether there are residual lesions. Thyroid cancer mainly includes papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer and anaplastic thyroid cancer. Among them, papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer are mainly treated with surgery and do not require radioactive iodine treatment after surgery, while medullary thyroid cancer and anaplastic thyroid cancer require radioactive iodine treatment.

1. Papillary thyroid carcinoma: The surgery is mainly based on total thyroidectomy. If there is no residual lesion, a low-iodine diet is not required after surgery. If there is residual lesion, a low-iodine diet is required after surgery.

2. Follicular thyroid cancer: Whether a low-iodine diet is needed after surgery depends mainly on the pathological type of thyroidectomy. If the pathological type is follicular thyroid cancer, a large thyroidectomy is generally performed, and radioactive iodine treatment is not required after surgery. If it is medullary carcinoma or undifferentiated carcinoma, iodine-131 treatment is required after surgery.

3. Medullary thyroid cancer: The surgery mainly consists of total thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection. If no lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis is found in the thyroid cancer patient after surgery, a low-iodine diet is usually not required after surgery. If lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis is found after surgery, further radioactive iodine treatment is required;.

4. Anaplastic thyroid cancer: The surgery mainly consists of extensive thyroidectomy. Iodine-131 treatment is required after the surgery, and a lifelong low-iodine diet is required.

It is recommended that thyroid cancer patients eat a light diet after surgery and avoid eating spicy, cold, greasy and other irritating foods. They should also ensure adequate sleep and rest, avoid staying up late and overwork, so as not to affect recovery.