Thyroid Cancer Treatment

The thyroid is a gland located near your windpipe. You normally cannot feel a healthy thyroid beneath your skin, so if you suddenly feel a lump in your neck, it may be thyroid cancer. Fortunately, there are many treatment options for this type of cancer.

Surgery

• The most common treatment of thyroid cancer is surgery. Your surgeon may remove your whole thyroid, lymph nodes only, or just a portion of your thyroid.

Radiation Therapy

• You may receive high-energy radiation from machines outside your body. Or you may receive a direct injection of radiation through wires or a catheter.

Radioactive Iodine Therapy

• Your physician administers radioactive iodine therapy orally. The iodine soaks into only the cancerous cells, killing them and leaving the healthy tissue alone.

Chemotherapy

• Your doctor may give you drugs orally or intravenously to kill the cancer cells or stop them from growing. She also may administer chemotherapy directly into your spine or the affected organ.

Thyroid Hormone Therapy

• Your physician may utilize hormone therapy to remove hormones, which should stop the growth of thyroid cancer cells. Because this type of treatment kills thyroid cells, your doctor may prescribe hormone replacement pills.