Thyroid Surgery
Surgery is the most widely used method to get rid of thyroid cancer. Your surgery will depend on the kind of thyroid cancer you have.
- A thyroidectomy is when all or part of the thyroid gland is removed.
- A lobectomy is when one of the two lobes of your thyroid is removed.
- If the cancer has spread, lymph nodes in the neck area may be taken out, as well.
- Tissue around the thyroid gland may also be removed, depending on the size and location of the tumor.
Your doctor may recommend that you consider thyroid surgery for 4 main reasons:
- You have a nodule that might be thyroid cancer.
- You have a diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
- You have a nodule or goiter that is causing local symptoms – compression of the trachea, difficulty swallowing or a visible or unsightly mass.
- You have a nodule or goiter that is causing symptoms due to the production and release of excess thyroid hormone – either a toxic nodule, a toxic multinodular goiter or Graves’ disease.
Iodine therapy
Radioiodine is a form of radiation therapy that has been used for many years to treat thyroid conditions. RAI is a very common and accepted treatment for thyroid cancer patients following thyroid surgery. Thyroid hormone-producing cells are the only cells in your body that absorb iodine. The cells collect and concentrate iodine from our diets (such as from iodized salt, which is common in processed foods, deli meats, fast food and dairy products, to name a few) and use the iodine to make thyroid hormones Since no other cells in the body can absorb iodine, doctors can give an individual radioactive iodine to destroy thyroid cells.
Preparing Your Body for Radioactive Iodine Treatment
cells—both healthy and cancerous—absorb the radioactive iodine, they are damaged or destroyed. Thyroid cancer cells, however, don’t take up the radioactive iodine as easily as the healthy thyroid cells do. To encourage the cancerous cells to absorb the radioactive iodine, your doctor may suggest these methods:
- Increase your levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
- Thyrogen drug is specifically used to raise TSH levels before radioactive iodine treatment.
- Starting a low-iodine diet 2 weeks before radioactive iodine treatment.
Short-term side effects of Radioactive Iodine Treatment
- Neck tenderness and swelling
- Nausea and vomiting
- Swelling and tenderness of the salivary glands
- Dry mouth
- Taste changes
Reference:
https://www.webmd.com/cancer/thyroid-cancer-treatments#2
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/treating/radioactive-iodine.html
https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid-cancer/radioactive-iodine-papillary-thyroid-cancer
http://www.snmmi.org/AboutSNMMI/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=5609
https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid-cancer/radioactive-iodine-thyroid-canc
