How to determine if thyroid cancer has become malignant

How to judge the worsening of thyroid cancer? Although they are all tumors, there are great differences between benign tumors and malignant tumors. Whether in terms of treatment or harmfulness, benign tumors are much better than malignant tumors. However, many benign tumors will worsen if not properly handled. So, how to judge the worsening of thyroid cancer?

The rate of malignant transformation of benign thyroid tumors is as high as 20%.

Thyroid tumors can be benign or malignant. The vast majority are benign tumors, and a few are cancers. Benign thyroid tumors are not serious in themselves, and generally have no obvious symptoms when the tumor is small. However, if not treated in time, the tumor will grow larger and larger. Some patients with larger tumors will experience symptoms such as difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, and hoarseness due to the compression of the trachea, esophagus, and recurrent laryngeal nerve by the tumor. In addition, benign thyroid tumors have a 20% rate of malignant transformation, so they should be treated as soon as possible after discovery.

Malignant thyroid tumors are thyroid cancers, most of which are low- to medium-grade malignancies, and the survival rate of patients is relatively high. The average 5-year survival rate after surgery is 95%. However, a small number of patients are highly malignant (i.e., undifferentiated cancer), which is seriously life-threatening, so they should be taken seriously and treated in a timely manner.

Distinguishing between benign and malignant thyroid tumors is very important for choosing appropriate treatment options, which is mainly determined by medical history, physical examination, radionuclide scanning, Doppler ultrasound and puncture cytology.

The medical history mainly includes three points: ① About 50% of thyroid nodules in children are malignant. ② Single nodules occurring in young men should also be considered malignant. ③ If a patient develops a nodule suddenly and develops rapidly in a short period of time, it is more likely to be malignant.

During a physical examination, doctors generally determine whether it is a malignant tumor based on the following three symptoms: ① A single thyroid nodule is more likely to be malignant than multiple nodules. ② Characteristics of benign adenomas: smooth surface on palpation, soft texture, and large mobility when swallowing. ③ Characteristics of malignant nodules: uneven surface, hard texture, and small mobility when swallowing. Malignant nodules are often accompanied by swollen lymph nodes in the neck. Sometimes the tumor is very small, but there are already swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

In addition, it can also be determined through color B-ultrasound examination and puncture cytology examination. Color B-ultrasound examination can not only distinguish whether the thyroid nodule is cystic or solid, but also observe the blood flow of the nodule. Those with abundant blood flow may become malignant. Puncture cytology examination can further clarify the nature of the thyroid nodule, and the normal diagnosis rate is more than 80%.