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Thyroid cancer - papillary carcinoma - Symptom

Alternative Names

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

Symptoms:

Thyroid cancer usually begins as a small lump (nodule) in the thyroid gland, which is located at the center part of the front of the neck.

While some small lumps may be cancer, most thyroid nodules are harmless and are not cancerous.

Most of the time, there are no other symptoms.

Signs and tests:

If you have a lump on your thyroid, your doctor will order blood tests and possibly an ultrasound of the thyroid gland.

If the ultrasound shows that the lump is bigger than 1.0 centimeter, a special biopsy called a fine needle aspiration (FNA) will be performed. This test helps determines if the lump is cancerous.

Thyroid function tests are usually normal in patients with 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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