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Thyroid cancer - papillary carcinoma - Overview

Alternative Names

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

Definition of Thyroid cancer - papillary carcinoma:

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid is the most common cancer of the thyroid gland.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

About 80% of all thyroid cancers diagnosed in the United States are papillary carcinoma type. It is more common in women than in men. It may occur in childhood, but is most often seen in adults around the age of 45.

The cause of this cancer is unknown. A genetic defect may be involved.

Radiation increases the risk of developing thyroid cancer. Exposure may occur from:

High-dose external radiation treatments to the neck, especially during childhood, used to treat childhood cancer or some benign childhood conditions.
Radiation due to atomic bomb testing in the Marshall Islands and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine, mostly in children.

Radiation given through a vein (through an IV) during medical tests and treatments does not increase the risk of developing thyroid cancer.

Endocrine glands

Thyroid cancer - CT scan

Thyroid enlargement - scintiscan

Thyroid gland

Reviewed last on: 3/2/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Ladenson P, Kim M. Thyroid. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 244.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Guidelines in Oncology 2010: Thyroid Cancer. Version 1.2010.

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