Many people with thyroid cancer don’t notice symptoms at first. It’s often found during a routine neck exam or imaging test. When symptoms do appear, they may include:

• A lump or swelling in the neck
• Hoarseness or voice changes
• Trouble swallowing or breathing
• Pain in the neck or throat
• A persistent cough (not from a cold)

Treatment depends on the type and stage of thyroid cancer. Depending if it grows slowly (most common) or if it is more aggressive.

Typical treatments include:

• Surgery to remove part or all of the thyroid
• Thyroid hormone therapy to replace natural hormones and prevent cancer from returning
• Targeted therapies or chemotherapy (mostly for advanced or rare types)
• External radiation uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.
• Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy, is a radiotheranostics used in metastatic cancer or to destroy residual cancer cells after surgery.

Radiotheranostics is a new type of treatment that combines therapy and diagnostics. In thyroid cancer, this is most often done with RAI using iodine (I-131). Because thyroid cells have special structures to absorb iodine, this treatment directly targets and destroys cancer cells while leaving most healthy tissues unharmed. It is mainly used for certain aggressive or metastatic thyroid cancers.

This treatment is being used since the 1940’s and transformed metastatic thyroid cancer from a disease with poor outcome to a disease with about 85% overall survival.

National Cancer Institut (NCI/USA) 

Europe: Butterfly (GBR), British Thyroid Foundation (GBR)

Worldwide: Thyroid Cancer Alliance (TCA)

North America: American Thyroid Association (USA), ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. (USA), Light of Life Foundation for Thyroid Cancer (USA), Thyroid Cancer Canada (CAN)

Oceania: Australian Thyroid Foundation (AUS)