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Topic of the Month: Thyroid Cancer
Thyroid Cancer Public Education Symposium
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 from 5 - 8 p.m.
Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center of Northwestern University
303 E. Superior St., Baldwin Auditorium, Chicago campus
Northwestern experts will discuss: Detection and initial treatment, surgery for advanced thyroid cancer, nuclear medicine and diagnostics, Screening and Treatment for Recurrent Thyroid Cancer and Hormone Replacement, Clinical Trials and Long-term Thyroid Cancer Management. Thyroid Cancer Support Organization for patients and their families. Co-hosted by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, a national non-profit
NO CHARGE. Boxed suppers provided for all pre-registered guests.
cancer.northwestern.edu/thyroid/
Each year, about 20,000 people in the U.S. develop cancer of the thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped organ located on the lower front of the neck just below the Adam's apple. The thyroid gland produces thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism.
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Signs and Symptoms of Thyroid Cancer
Prompt attention to signs and symptoms is the best approach to diagnose most thyroid cancers early. Thyroid cancer can cause any of the following local signs or symptoms:
a lump or swelling in the neck, sometimes growing rapidly a pain in the front of the neck, sometimes going up to the ears hoarseness or other voice change that does not go away trouble swallowing breathing problems (feeling as if one were "breathing through a straw") a cough that continues and is not due to a cold.
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What Are the Risk Factors for Thyroid Cancer?
A risk factor is anything that affects a person's chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, exposing skin to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for a number of cancers. But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not mean that you will get the disease. And many people who get the disease may not have had any known risk factors. Even if a person with thyroid cancer has a risk factor, it is very hard to know how much that risk factor may have contributed to the cancer.
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Staging
After thyroid cancer has been diagnosed, tests are done to find out if cancer cells have spread within the thyroid or to other parts of the body. The process used to find out if cancer has spread within the thyroid or to other parts of the body is called staging. The information gathered from the staging process determines the stage of the disease. It is important to know the stage in order to plan treatment.
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Treatment
Different types of treatment are available for patients with thyroid cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. Before starting treatment, patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment.
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