Thyroid Cancer Treatments: Surgical and Treatment Options Debated
Early detection and treatment of cancer is usually a good thing. In the case of thyroid cancer, however, some physicians worry that treatments for patients may be too aggressive, particularly when small tumors have been detected in only part of the thyroid.
The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland straddling the front of the neck, just below the “adam’s apple.” When a thyroid tumor is detected on one side, or lobe, doctors and patients must decide how much of the thyroid to remove in order to arrest the cancer.
Up to 90% of surgeries for thyroid cancer involve total thyroidectomies where the entire gland is removed. More conservative options involve a “lumpectomy” or “lobectomy” where only part or half of the thyroid is excised. The debate among physicians is over which surgical approach provides the best outcome for patient survival and quality of life.
One study in 2006 from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois looked at the results from more than 50,000 thyroid cancer patients who had surgery in 1985 to 1998. The researchers found that tumor size was critical in determining the best surgical choice.
