Is papillary thyroid carcinoma serious? What are the clinical manifestations of papillary thyroid carcinoma?

Is papillary thyroid cancer serious? Papillary thyroid cancer is a relatively serious malignant disease. Its arrival threatens the patient's quality of life. In order to prevent the disease from worsening, auxiliary conditioning must be done and symptomatic suppression must be carried out according to the condition. So, is papillary thyroid cancer serious? Next, let's take a look at the relevant introduction together, I hope it will be helpful to you.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is a low-grade malignant tumor and a common pathological type of thyroid cancer. It accounts for the majority of thyroid cancers in adults and the majority of thyroid cancers in children, especially in children. Most cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma are actually mixed tumors, in which follicular carcinoma components in varying proportions can be found. The natural course of these patients is similar to that of papillary carcinoma. The current classification standard classifies these patients as papillary carcinoma.

Characteristics of the disease: The peak age of onset is 30 to 50 years old, and the number of female patients is three times that of male patients. Among thyroid cancers caused by external radiation, most are papillary carcinomas. The course of coexistence of the tumor can last from several years to more than ten years, and people can still survive with the tumor even after lung metastasis.

Clinical manifestations: Papillary thyroid carcinoma presents as a gradually enlarging neck mass. The mass is painless and may be discovered accidentally by the patient or physician, so the patient usually seeks medical treatment late and is easily misdiagnosed as a benign lesion. Hoarseness of varying degrees may occur. Patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma do not have changes in thyroid function, but some patients may develop hyperthyroidism.

During physical examination of the neck, the characteristic manifestation is an asymmetrical mass in the thyroid gland, which is hard in texture, has fuzzy edges, and an uneven surface. The mass may move with swallowing; if the tumor invades the trachea or surrounding tissues, the mass will be relatively fixed.

Metastasis characteristics: When lymph node metastasis occurs in papillary thyroid carcinoma, it is mostly limited to the thyroid area, supraclavicular, and axillary lymph node metastasis in a few cases. In some cases, sentinel lymph nodes above the isthmus of the thyroid may be enlarged. About half of the patients may have regional lymph node metastasis.

A small number of cases metastasize via the bloodstream, mainly to the lungs, where they can form several tumor nodules or make the entire lung appear snowflake-like. Patients can maintain relatively normal lung function for 10 to 30 years with the tumor, becoming the main source of thyroxine in the body after thyroidectomy, leading to obstructive and restrictive lung disease. Distant metastasis can also occur in bones and other places.