Is thyroid cancer easy to metastasize? What are the sites where thyroid cancer is easy to metastasize?

Whether thyroid cancer is prone to metastasis depends on the severity and type of thyroid cancer. If treatment is initiated in the early stages of the disease, metastasis is rare; if the disease is severe, especially for highly malignant cancers such as medullary thyroid cancer and anaplastic cancer, lymph node metastasis, bone metastasis, lung metastasis, liver metastasis, etc. may occur.

Thyroid cancer is also a relatively common malignant tumor. It can occur at any age, but the incidence rate is higher in middle-aged women. If it is actively treated in the early stage of the disease, it can generally achieve a good prognosis; if it is not treated until the late stage of the disease, metastasis may have occurred at this time, and the prognosis is generally very poor. So, is thyroid cancer easy to metastasize?

1. Is thyroid cancer easy to metastasize?

Whether the thyroid gland is prone to metastasis depends on the severity of the thyroid cancer and the type of thyroid cancer. If active treatment is given in the early stages of the disease, metastasis is rare; however, if the disease is particularly severe and has developed to the middle or late stages, or if it is a malignant tumor with a relatively high degree of malignancy such as medullary thyroid cancer or undifferentiated cancer, the chance of distant metastasis is generally higher. Therefore, early detection and early treatment can reduce the metastasis rate of thyroid cancer.

2. Thyroid cancer is likely to metastasize to

1. Lymph node metastasis

Lymph node metastasis occurs in both malignant tumors with a relatively low degree of malignancy, such as papillary thyroid cancer and follicular cell carcinoma, and malignant tumors with a relatively high degree of malignancy, such as medullary thyroid cancer and undifferentiated carcinoma. Thyroid cancers with a relatively low degree of malignancy will metastasize to nearby lymph nodes, while thyroid cancers with a relatively high degree of malignancy will metastasize to distant lymph nodes.

2. Bone metastasis

This is also the site where thyroid cancer is prone to metastasis, especially after the occurrence of medullary thyroid cancer and undifferentiated cancer, if the treatment is not timely, the cancer cells will metastasize to the bones. At this time, it is often accompanied by severe bone pain, pathological fractures and other symptoms.

3. Lung metastasis

When thyroid cancer is highly malignant, it will metastasize to the lungs in the middle and late stages. When metastatic cancer appears in the lungs, uncomfortable symptoms such as dyspnea and hemoptysis will occur, and the survival period will often be greatly shortened.

4. Liver metastasis

When medullary thyroid cancer or anaplastic thyroid cancer is severe, the cancer cells may metastasize to the liver, resulting in liver metastasis. This disease affects the liver's detoxification function, so the survival period may be relatively short, especially when the condition is severe, the survival period may be only about half a year.