My friend had a 9 mm thyroid nodule and was told not to worry, and it turned out to be an aggressive thyroid cancer that spread. Why should I not have my 8 mm nodule removed?
There are always exceptions to the rule that very small nodules are usually benign, and hence management needs to be individualized according to the clinical circumstances present that are unique in each patient. Nevertheless, patients are reminded that the vast majority of small nodules less than 1 cm are benign. If all nodules such as these were removed surgically, it is likely that the number of patients exposed to complications of surgery would be relatively high compared to the number of patients that actually benefited from aggressive intervention. Nevertheless, the data clearly shows that even patients with 8-9 mm nodules do have a 10-15% incidence of thyroid cancer if the diagnosis is pursued aggressively. See Ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration of thyroid incidentaloma: correlation with pathological findings. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2004 Jan; 60(1): 21-8.
Related Questions
- My friend had a 9 mm thyroid nodule and was told not to worry, and it turned out to be an aggressive thyroid cancer that spread. Why should I not have my 8 mm nodule removed?
- My friend had a 1 cm nodule removed immediately from her breast and it turned out to be cancer. Why is it ok just to watch my thyroid nodule and not remove it immediately?
- Why worry so much about thyroid cancer if most people survive it?
