papillery thryoid cancer

[ellyel]

I am  27 and female

I was a goiter patient for 5 years. (if you need, i may send my analysis reports) till my doctor advise me surgery option. (till this decision, there was no problem about my all reports even biopsy result)



I had operation on 06.11.2006, and during the operation, my doctor has found 7 mm papillary thryoid cancer, and he had surgery to remove the entire thyroid (total thyroidectomy) He said that he also took several samples (about 20) from my lymph nodes to check if they contain the cancer, but no cancer cells has found around them. And he also found no cancer according to my throat&lungs scan



One of the University Endocrine Council has checked my results (surgery report, scans, throat&lungs scan after surgery)

And decided that i do not need the radioactive iodine or external-beam radiation therapy because of the dimension of  cancer (7 mm is small) and no metastasis.

Now, i am taking EUTHRYOX 150 mg one a day.



I want to learn;



My doctor sait that he should see me for every 6 months (do you think should i go more often?)
Do you think do i need radioactive iodline theraphy?
How is the treatment after surgery?
Is it possible to have same cancer again, which parts of my body do i have to make control except lungs and throat?
Do i change my lifestyle, what do you offer?

[utahmomma]

I'm sorry but welcome to the papillary carcinoma club.  :-(  If you haven't read through most of the posts I've been through TT and papillary carcinoma as have three of my sisters.  Another sister and my (then) 16 year old daughter had precancer.

From your post I'm guessing you do not live in the U.S., am I correct?  I lived with papillary carcinoma for two years following my total thyroidectomy (TT).  

My endocrinologist was checking my thyroid labs every six months and my TSH level started to climb (from 0.07 to 2.1 in 6 months).  My endo recommended RAI (I-131 treatment).  It was pure hell (going off the meds and going through hypothyroidism - NOT the treatment itself).  Anyway, I'm glad I did because I had a "significant amount of aggressive thyroid tissue" (i.e., thyroid cancer) in my thyroid bed.  This was three years after my thyroid surgery.   Another of my sisters had Stage II papillary carcinoma at age 24 with lymph node involvement - she has had three doses of I-131.

No thyroid surgery can remove all of your thyroid tissue.  There can be "micro" areas of papillary carcinoma in other areas of your thyroid.  The RAI is recommended for cancer patients to destroy any remaining thyroid tissues.

Thyroid cancer can come back anywhere in your body (usually lungs, bones, lymph nodes, brain) but it is a very slow growing cancer and I-131 (RAI) specifically targets the tissue it grows in (thyroid tissue).

Here are some articles for you:
http://www.meb.uni-bonn.de/cancer.gov/CDR0000062913.html#REF_75
http://www.endocrineweb.com/thyroidca.html
http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/cancer_type/thyroid
http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/thyroid/raiprep.html

Your doctor will need to keep an eye on your TSH and thyroglobulin levels to watch for any recurrence of thyroid tissue growth.  If there is a recurrence then RAI may be warranted.

Of the four of us in my family with papillary carcinoma only two of us have been through RAI - the other two's labs are stable.

Sorry, there are no definitive answers when you've become a "CK" (cancer kid).  

Please also have regular cancer screenings for other forms of cancer (colon, breast, cervical, etc.).  Your doctors may not recommend mammograms and colonoscopies on you yet but it's better safe than sorry.  As one doctor told me, once the cancer switch is turned to "on" you need to stay on top of it.

Hang in there and WELCOME.

[ChitChatNine]

I had my surgery 1/9/07 and after the surgery they found 2 areas of Pap Cancer in the 1/2 the gland they removed.  My areas were .5mm and 5mm respectively.

I found all your ?'s to be great ?'s as I, too, have a similar yet different dilemma as yours.  1/2 my thryoid is still intact and I know of a 2mm nodule on it.

I have started Synthroid replacement therapy and 6 mos for u/s . they call them "serial ultrasounds" to compare things along with labs as Utahmamma explained.  In my case almost total supression is the TSH goal.

The orig. reason for the surgery was benign (2 nodules) in my case,but final biopsy found the other areas.  My lymph nodes on the report were clear and the cancer was encapsulated.

What I find very frustrating is that some of the professionals treat the findings with due respect while others "brush it off" and almost consider it a "nuisance" as this type of cancer is found in many people who are autopsied and die of other causes.

Cheryl - 47 .. also have kidney stones/gallstones and history of other "atypical" findings (moles, colon polyp and atypical urethrial (renal) cells .. all NOT cancer)