Will thyroid cancer removal affect life expectancy?

For every thyroid cancer patient, they will worry whether the removal will affect their life span. In fact, there is no need to worry about this, because the removal of thyroid cancer will not affect life span. As long as thyroid cancer patients actively cooperate with treatment, pay attention to diet after surgery, and maintain a good attitude, many patients will basically not be affected in their life and life span.

Total thyroidectomy is mainly for hyperthyroidism, severe thyroiditis or thyroid tumors. The prognosis of different thyroid diseases is also different. For benign or non-metastatic thyroid diseases, total thyroidectomy will not affect the patient's overall life expectancy. If it is follicular carcinoma or distant metastasis has occurred, total thyroidectomy may affect the patient's life expectancy due to tumor recurrence or metastasis. After total thyroidectomy, patients may experience varying degrees of hypothyroidism and need to closely monitor thyroid function.

There are different types of thyroid diseases. If it is thyroid cancer or papillary cancer, the recovery rate can basically reach more than 97% after resection, which can achieve clinical cure and will not affect life expectancy. However, if it is other undifferentiated thyroid cancers, the prognosis is very poor, and the expected survival is only half a year to one year.

The reason why we call malignant tumors cancer and why we are so afraid of cancer is mainly because cancer is a "living body" that can metastasize, spread, and reproduce. Even if it is treated in the early stage, it will relapse after treatment. The recurrence rate is very high within five years, and many cancer patients lose their lives when the cancer relapses. The reason why thyroid cancer does not affect life expectancy is mainly because compared with other cancers, thyroid cancer is not easy to metastasize, and the recurrence rate is low after being cured. Even if some are not cured, they will not die from thyroid cancer in the end. Most of them die of normal life expectancy. Standardized treatment of thyroid cancer basically will not affect the patient's work and quality of life, nor will it affect life expectancy.

After resection, only some hormone levels in the body will decrease, and additional supplements are needed. Iodine-131 treatment should be performed after surgery! Iodine-131 treatment can play the following roles: 1. Completely remove more or less tiny cancer foci that may remain in the thyroid tissue after surgery, and reduce local recurrence; 2. Iodine-131 treatment has the dual role of diagnosing and treating thyroid cancer metastases, which helps to determine whether there is metastasis and the extent of metastasis; 3. After iodine-131 removes the residual thyroid, blood thyroglobulin (Tg) can be used to simply and sensitively follow up and monitor whether there is recurrence and metastasis, which is convenient for long-term and lifelong follow-up.

Thyroid cancer is not scary. The five-, ten-, or even twenty-year survival rates of many patients can reach over 95 percent, which basically does not affect their lives and lifespans. Clinical evidence also shows that certain specific anti-osteoporosis drugs can significantly reduce tumor recurrence and metastasis, significantly improve the quality of life of cancer patients, and achieve the purpose of prolonging life. In addition, regular follow-up examinations are also important for patients after thyroid cancer surgery, and they should develop the habit of regular check-ups. In short, thyroid cancer is a low-grade malignant tumor that has little impact on life and quality of life. Paying attention to the details of the diagnosis and treatment process will better improve the patient's quality of life.

Having thyroid cancer does not mean the end of life. Ninety-five percent of thyroid cancers are differentiated thyroid cancers with a low degree of malignancy. If treated in a standardized manner, many patients can live as long as normal people, and their quality of life will not be affected.