Does thyroid cancer require chemotherapy?

Thyroid cancer does not require chemotherapy. Chemotherapy in clinical practice refers to chemical drug treatment, which is a treatment method that kills cancer cells through chemical drugs. Thyroid cancer is mostly a malignant tumor originating from the thyroid follicular epithelium. Chemotherapy drugs mainly act on the malignant tumor cells outside the cells, causing less damage to normal cells and prolonging the patient's survival.

1. Papillary thyroid carcinoma: The most common type is papillary thyroid carcinoma. Surgery is the main treatment, including total resection and partial resection. Patients without high risk of recurrence and distant metastasis after surgery do not need chemotherapy.

2. Follicular thyroid carcinoma: Follicular thyroid carcinoma grows slowly, and patients in the early stage have no obvious symptoms. The tumor is confined to the thyroid gland. Generally, thyroid lobectomy plus isthmus resection or total thyroidectomy can be selected. Patients who do not have a high risk of recurrence and distant metastasis after surgery do not need chemotherapy.

3. Medullary thyroid cancer: Medullary thyroid cancer is a common thyroid malignancy with a low degree of malignancy and no obvious symptoms in most cases. Medullary thyroid cancer can be treated surgically. After surgical treatment, patients need to take levothyroxine sodium tablets for a long time to maintain the body's thyroid hormone levels. Some patients also need iodine-131 treatment. If surgical treatment is not thorough or distant metastasis occurs, chemotherapy can be performed;.

4. Undifferentiated cancer: Undifferentiated cancer grows rapidly and is highly invasive. It is prone to recurrence or metastasis after surgery, and there is no effective chemotherapy drug to control it. Chemotherapy is not required, but radioactive iodine treatment can be performed.

In addition to the common types mentioned above, there are other types such as medullary papillary carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The reason why thyroid cancer patients generally do not need chemotherapy is that this type of tumor develops relatively slowly and most patients do not have obvious symptoms. After surgical treatment, early patients have a good prognosis and no longer need chemotherapy. Advanced patients can also choose targeted drug therapy, immunotherapy and other methods to control the disease and prolong survival. It is recommended that thyroid cancer patients try to maintain a calm state of mind and actively cooperate with doctors in treatment.