Thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer may be diagnosed after seeing a doctor because of symptoms, or it may be detected during a routine physical exam or other tests. If there is reason to suspect thyroid cancer, your doctor will use one or more tests to confirm the diagnosis. If cancer is found, other tests may be done to find out more about the cancer.
Thyroid cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women. The diagnosis of cancer is certainly terrifying, but thyroid cancer is very treatable in most patients with it, even advanced disease. Thyroid cancer can almost always be treated with surgery by a specialist. Diagnosis is the first step in specialized evaluation and treatment of thyroid cancer.
diagnose thyroid cancer
Here are 6 best ways to diagnose thyroid cancer:
Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA or needle biopsy)
Most cases of thyroid cancer have no symptoms and the person is unaware that something is happening. While a thorough medical examination and regular physical examination with your primary care physician is important to identify a lump or nodule in your thyroid, needle biopsy is a key factor in diagnosing thyroid cancer.
Thyroid ultrasound
Thyroid ultrasound performed by a skilled and experienced team is the basis for the evaluation and diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Often, an excellent ultrasound is enough to diagnose cancer because some thyroid cancers have a very specific appearance on ultrasound. During the ultrasound, the technician should thoroughly examine the thyroid and all areas of the lymph nodes on either side of the neck that may be involved in thyroid cancer. If your ultrasound is not comprehensive and does not cover this important component, the cancer may be ignored and left out after surgery. This will lead to more surgery and treatment in the future. This is the best time to treat thyroid cancer for the first time. Thus, a complete evaluation with ultrasound is very important for diagnosis.
This test can help determine if your thyroid nodule is solid or full of fluid. (Solid nodules are more likely to be cancerous.) It can also be used to check the number and size of thyroid nodules, as well as to help determine if nearby lymph nodes are enlarged due to the spread of thyroid cancer.
Self-examination or examination by a doctor
Often, nodules or lymph nodes with thyroid cancer are diagnosed on examination. Regular neck and thyroid self-examination, along with regular visits to a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and monitoring thyroid cancer, is very important. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ located in the middle of your neck just above your collarbone above your trachea. Cancers that develop in the thyroid gland sometimes cause small bumps or bumps that you can feel. Thyroid cancer can also spread to the lymph nodes on the sides of your neck. Likewise, a self-examination for thyroid cancer can detect cancerous lymph node enlargement.
CT scan
The use of CT scans (computed tomography scans) for the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of many medical conditions is increasing every year. Due to its widespread and frequent use, multiple thyroid cancers are found accidentally (or accidentally) when a person has a CT scan of their head, neck, and / or chest for another symptom or problem (such as headache, neck pain, or breathing problem). A CT scan is great for a reduced view or an overview of thyroid cancer in relation to other neck structures.
Blood test
Only a small percentage of thyroid cancers are diagnosed directly by a blood test. The most common type of thyroid cancer is papillary, which accounts for approximately 85% of cases and is not detectable in the laboratory. The rarer type, medullary thyroid cancer, can be diagnosed with two markers in the blood: calcitonin levels and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. Because medullary thyroid cancer is so rare, these blood tests are not routinely used to screen for thyroid cancer. Normal levels of thyroid hormone in your lab do not rule out thyroid cancer!
MRI, iodine uptake or nuclear medicine thyroid scan, and positron emission tomography or PET / CT scan
The following imaging tests are less commonly used to diagnose thyroid cancer. They are used to diagnose other thyroid diseases.
Radio iodine scans can be used to help determine if a person with a lump in the neck may have thyroid cancer. They are also often used in people who have already been diagnosed with distinct thyroid cancer (papillary, follicular, or cellular) to indicate if it has spread. Because medullary thyroid cancer cells do not absorb iodine, radio iodine scans are not used for this cancer.
References
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/how-diagnosed.html
https://www.thyroidcancer.com/blog/5-best-ways-to-diagnose-thyroid-cancer
