Thyroid cancer - papillary carcinoma

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Endocrine glands

Thyroid cancer - CT scan

Thyroid enlargement - scintiscan

Thyroid cancer - papillary carcinoma

Alternative Names:

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid
Symptoms:

Thyroid cancer usually begins as a small bump (nodule) in the thyroid gland. However, it should be emphasized that most thyroidbumps are harmless and noncancerous (benign).

Signs and tests:

If you have a lump on your thyroid, your doctor will order blood tests and an ultrasound of the thyroid gland.

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If the ultrasound shows that the lump is bigger than1.0 centimeters, a special biopsy called a fine needle aspiration (FNA) will be performed. This test determines if the lump is cancerous or benign.

Thyroid function tests are usually normal in patients with thyroid cancer.

References:

Larsen PR, Kronberg HM, Schlomo M, et al. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 10th ed. St. Louis, MO: WB Saunders; 2003:469-473.

Hemminki K. Familial risks for nonmedullary thyroid cancer. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.2005; 90(10): 5747-53.

Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: WB Saunders; 2005:1177-1180.