The type of cancer that can be completely cured

Having a baby after cancer treatment

Ms. NLL (born in 1986, residing in Ha Dong, Hanoi) had thyroid cancer 5 years ago. During a routine health check-up, the doctor performed a thyroid ultrasound and discovered a 1cm thyroid tumor with TIRADS level 5 and had to perform a biopsy. The results showed that Ms. L. had papillary thyroid cancer.

Ms. L. had surgery and did not need radioactive iodine treatment. Two years later, Ms. L. gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Currently, Ms. L. only needs to have a regular health check-up once a year.

According to Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy - Deputy Head of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, K Hospital (Hanoi), recently, the number of patients coming for examination and treatment of thyroid cancer has tended to increase. Currently, according to GLOBOCAN 2020, thyroid cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers with nearly 600,000 new cases, but this is a type of cancer with a very high cure rate.

Currently, most thyroid cancer patients who come to the K Hospital for examination and treatment do not have specific symptoms but are discovered through routine examination. When the disease is in the late stages, some symptoms may appear:

- Hoarseness due to cancer invading the laryngeal nerve.

- A mass appears in the neck, which can move with swallowing or move less.

- Difficulty swallowing, difficulty swallowing due to tumor compression.

Best prognosis cancer

Thyroid cancer is divided into differentiated thyroid cancer (including papillary and follicular), medullary and undifferentiated. Of these, papillary thyroid cancer is the most common, accounting for 80-85%.

There are three methods of treating papillary thyroid cancer: surgery, radioactive iodine, and medical treatment (TSH suppression therapy). Surgery plays an important role and is decisive for the treatment results. After surgery, patients may be prescribed iodine 131 treatment and thyroid hormone supplementation.

According to Dr. Duy, most patients are very confused and worried when they receive the news that they have thyroid cancer. However, this is a type of cancer that progresses very slowly and has a high cure rate. Most patients have returned to their daily work after completing the treatment.

According to a study conducted on nearly 5,900 patients with papillary thyroid cancer, only 68 people had lung and bone metastases; 90% of patients lived for 20 years or more.