Thyroid Cancer � Types - Spread

Types of Thyroid Cancer

Essentially there are four types of thyroid cancer depending on the cell from which they originate and how fast the cancer cells divide. To make you understand this condition a little better, now let us check out the various types of thyroid cancer:

• Papillary Thyroid Cancer
• Follicular Thyroid Cancer
• Medullary Thyroid Cancer
• Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
• Changes in the skin, such as redness or soreness

Let me not fill up your minds with medical jargon. But there are some basic things that are worth notice.

• Papillary Thyroid Cancers: These are the commonest of the thyroid cancers occurring mostly in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which are iodine rich. If diagnosed early, most people with this cancer can be cured.
• Follicular Thyroid Cancers: They constitute less than 15 percent of all thyroid cancers. People with this cancer can be completely cured if the disease is diagnosed early.The two cancers you have read about arise from follicular cells (which I had mentioned in the beginning cancer tale ) and grow at a slow pace.
• Medullary Thyroid Cancers: These types constitute about 3 percent of all thyroid cancers. It arises in the C cells of the thyroid (Mentioned earlier). This is the reason why there are abnormally high levels of calcitonin. The rate of growth is slow. An early diagnosis makes an effective cure possible.
• Anaplastic Thyroid Cancers: These are rare, constitute less than 2 percent of all thyroid cancers. They begin in the follicular cells. They are tough nuts to crack. Unlike the other tumours of thyroid they grow and spread really fast.

References:

1. Sabiston Textbook Of Surgery 18^th Edition
2. The follicular cancer lady: A must read article where the narrator describes her own experiences being a thyroid cancer patient. Hilarious to the core, perhaps the first of its kind write up. It is highly informative: The legend
3. Famous thyroid cancer survivors: Catherine Bell
4. New modalities of treatment like �alcohol ablation� are being tried out at Mayo Clinic - (http://www.mayoclinic.org/thyroid-cancer/treatment.html)