Why do patients with previously treated thyroid cancer need follow-up? And how is it done?
Although the treatments for most forms of thyroid cancer — surgery, radioiodine, and thyroixine therapy — are very effective, almost one-third of patients have a recurrence of their disease later in life. So it is important for thyroid cancer patients to be followed by their doctor for the rest of their lives, typically every 6 to 12 months. The earlier recurrent cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. The tools to detect recurrent thyroid cancer are a doctor’s examination; the thyroglobulin blood test; and for some patients, the radioactive iodine scan, neck sonogram, and other imaging studies. The doctor typically asks about symptoms (such as difficulty swallowing, persistent hoarseness, or pain in the front of the neck) and feels the neck carefully to detect any lumps that might indicate reappearance of disease. The thyroblobulin (Tg) blood test detects this protien, which is only made by thyroid cells — either from thyroid cancer or remaining normal thyroid tissue. Tg tes
Related Questions
- In patients who have had thyroid cancer and been treated with the use of radioactive iodine, what would be the most sensitive test to let them know that there may still be some thyroid tissue left?
- What follow-up care is available for patients with Thyroid Cancer?
- What is the follow-up for thyroid cancer patients?
