What is thyroid cancer

What is thyroid cancer? As the environment we live in is damaged more and more seriously, various diseases are occurring more frequently. Among them, thyroid cancer is one of the diseases with a higher incidence rate. However, many people still don’t know much about thyroid cancer. So what is thyroid cancer? Let’s take a look together.

Thyroid cancer is the most common thyroid malignancy, accounting for about one percent of all malignant tumors in the body. Except for medullary carcinoma, most thyroid cancers originate from follicular epithelial cells. Based on histology, it can be classified into differentiated and undifferentiated types. Differentiated thyroid cancer can be further classified into papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer is the canceration of thyroid tissue. Since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant leak accident in the former Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, thyroid cancer has been the fastest growing solid malignant tumor in the past 20 years, with an average annual increase of 6.2%. At present, it has become the fifth most common malignant tumor in women.

The cause of thyroid cancer is not very clear. It may be related to dietary factors (high-iodine or iodine-deficient diet), history of exposure to radiation, increased estrogen secretion, genetic factors, or other evolution from benign thyroid diseases such as nodular goiter, hyperthyroidism, thyroid adenoma, and especially chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis.

Most patients present with a sudden neck lump that is hard, uneven, unclear, poorly mobile, and rapidly enlarged. It may be accompanied by hoarseness, difficulty breathing and swallowing, and local lymphadenopathy.