Thyroid Cancer

There are about 20,000 new cases of thyroid cancer each year in the United States. Females are more likely to have thyroid cancer at a ratio of three to one. Thyroid cancer can occur in any age group, although it is most common after age 30 and its aggressiveness increases significantly in older patients. The majority of patients present with a nodule on their thyroid which typically does not cause symptoms. Remember, over 99% of thyroid nodules are not cancer! But, when a thyroid cancer does begin to grow within a thyroid gland, it almost always does so within a discrete nodule within the thyroid.

Symptoms of thyroid cancer: Occasionally, symptoms such as hoarseness, neck pain, and enlarged lymph nodes do occur in people with thyroid cancer.. Although as much as 75 % of the population will have thyroid nodules, the vast majority are benign. That's right, most of us have nodule in our thyroid glands! Young people usually don't have thyroid nodules, but as we get older, more and more of us will develop a nodule. By the time we are 80, 90% of us will have at least one nodule. Far less than 1% of all thyroid nodules are malignant. A nodule which is cold on scan (shown in photo outlined in red and yellow) is more likely to be malignant, nevertheless, the majority of these are benign as well.