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How Many Posters Had Benign Nodules Without Any Thyroid Conditions?
I was wondering how many on here who have benign nodules have no hyper or hypothyroid conditions and normal blood tests?
You had *two* cancers that are that common but thankfully both are pretty treatable if caught early and slow growing.
32 - cervical cancer
36 - thyroid cancer
And I kicked both of their booties, LOL!
36 - thyroid cancer
And I kicked both of their booties, LOL!
My endo did tell me that his partner heard of a case where the papillary cancer metastized to the lungs and the person died. He said that, obviously, this was a rare case and the person must have not been to a doctor's office in a long time. So there are very rare and few cases. I'm just greatful that my 2cm mess and the whole thyroid is gone and I can go on with my life, even if my meds are not stabilized after almost a year and my scar didn't heal correctly and I'll have to wear a turtle neck for the rest of my life. I might as well move to Alaska. LOL!!!
bizwiz,
I'm definitely not ignoring my worrisome nodules and treating them like a common cold! Can I ask how old you were when you got the cancers? I'm sorry you had to go through *both* cervical and thyroid cancer but they do say that cervical is also slow growing and pretty treatable if caught early enough.
I'm definitely not ignoring my worrisome nodules and treating them like a common cold! Can I ask how old you were when you got the cancers? I'm sorry you had to go through *both* cervical and thyroid cancer but they do say that cervical is also slow growing and pretty treatable if caught early enough.
There are four major types of thyroid cancer and each can metastasize although some types are much more aggressive than others. Papillary and follicular make up about 90% of thyroid cancers and these types of thyroid cancers are the slowest growing and easiest to treat however EACH TYPE OF CANCER can spread (metastasize) if not treated.
here's some information about the different types of thyroid cancer: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/thyroid/types.html
Here is also information on thyroid cancer staging: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/thyroid/staging.html
Any type of cancer is serious and thyroid cancer is nothing to ignore. While the numbers don't rival breast, prostrate, or colon cancer, there are some facts that all thyroid patients need to keep in mind (all statistics from the web site quoted below):
- an estimated 1200 patients died of thyroid cancer in the United States in 1998
- Thyroid cancers represent approximately 1% of new cancer diagnoses each year
- Approximately 23,500 cases of thyroid cancer are diagnosed yearly in the United States.
info from: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic646.htm)
I'm not trying to frighten anyone but cancer is CANCER no matter where you get it and it needs to be taken seriously. Unfortunately thyroid cancer is not something that most medical professionals screen for and many people don't seem to pay any more attention to a suspicious thyroid nodule than they would a common cold.
here's some information about the different types of thyroid cancer: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/thyroid/types.html
Here is also information on thyroid cancer staging: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/thyroid/staging.html
Any type of cancer is serious and thyroid cancer is nothing to ignore. While the numbers don't rival breast, prostrate, or colon cancer, there are some facts that all thyroid patients need to keep in mind (all statistics from the web site quoted below):
- an estimated 1200 patients died of thyroid cancer in the United States in 1998
- Thyroid cancers represent approximately 1% of new cancer diagnoses each year
- Approximately 23,500 cases of thyroid cancer are diagnosed yearly in the United States.
info from: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic646.htm)
I'm not trying to frighten anyone but cancer is CANCER no matter where you get it and it needs to be taken seriously. Unfortunately thyroid cancer is not something that most medical professionals screen for and many people don't seem to pay any more attention to a suspicious thyroid nodule than they would a common cold.
utahmomma,
I have read though on very good medical sites that even when the the most common types of thyroid cancer mestasize it can be treated successfullfuly most of the time. Please see my comments I posted in response to your topic of thyroid cancer statistics.
I have read though on very good medical sites that even when the the most common types of thyroid cancer mestasize it can be treated successfullfuly most of the time. Please see my comments I posted in response to your topic of thyroid cancer statistics.
artsyrose,
Did you just have the thyroid nodule removed or did you have to have part or all of your thyroid removed? And you didn't say whether you had any thyroid conditions like hyper or hypothyroid with a benign nodule.
Did you just have the thyroid nodule removed or did you have to have part or all of your thyroid removed? And you didn't say whether you had any thyroid conditions like hyper or hypothyroid with a benign nodule.
I'm a bit confused by your definition of benign growths:
You posted: "benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer."
My breasts are *full* of benign growths, I have very dense breasts with fibrocystic breast disease. Don't even talk to me about self-exams, EVERYTHING is a lump. I have to have multiple mammograms every year and breast ultrasounds. I've been told to feel for a lump that DOESN'T hurt (difficult when the rest of the breast tissue hurts), feels hot (yeah, try that with thyroid and menopausal hot flashes), looks red or dimpled (my entire body looks like that), appears dry or scaly (I live in Utah and it's 7 degrees outside - EVERYTHING is dry and flaky). They know me by name at the breast imaging center at my local hospital and I've never been diagnosed with anything "suspicious" in my breasts however, with the characteristics of some of the fibrocystic breast lumps if they were in my thyroid they would have to be biopsied. Between the mammogram and ultrasounds I don't have to have 80% of my breasts biopsied (better tests, better scans).
If you are referring to suspicious areas in the breast that are later found to be benign on a lumpectomy or FNA, I'm sticking by my observation about better tests, treatments, and scans for breast cancer versus thyroid cancer. There aren't tests to tell whether or not a nodule in the thyroid is malignant or not (unless you get "lucky" and get a positive hit on an FNA) and the resolution on an ultrasound leaves a lot to be desired versus a mammogram.
Breast cancer *is* more common than thyroid cancer and it IS much more aggressive - especially when it's estrogen fed. However, cancer in the thyroid is still cancer and shouldn't be dismissed like many people (and doctors) do. Some forms of thyroid cancer tend to metastize (as does breast cancer and most other cancers) and can be just as deadly. Plus there is NO huge PR effort to get thyroids scanned and checked (unlike breast, colon, and prostrate cancers). No one really thinks about their thyroids until something goes wrong then the cascade effect throughout the body is overwhelming.
You posted: "benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer."
My breasts are *full* of benign growths, I have very dense breasts with fibrocystic breast disease. Don't even talk to me about self-exams, EVERYTHING is a lump. I have to have multiple mammograms every year and breast ultrasounds. I've been told to feel for a lump that DOESN'T hurt (difficult when the rest of the breast tissue hurts), feels hot (yeah, try that with thyroid and menopausal hot flashes), looks red or dimpled (my entire body looks like that), appears dry or scaly (I live in Utah and it's 7 degrees outside - EVERYTHING is dry and flaky). They know me by name at the breast imaging center at my local hospital and I've never been diagnosed with anything "suspicious" in my breasts however, with the characteristics of some of the fibrocystic breast lumps if they were in my thyroid they would have to be biopsied. Between the mammogram and ultrasounds I don't have to have 80% of my breasts biopsied (better tests, better scans).
If you are referring to suspicious areas in the breast that are later found to be benign on a lumpectomy or FNA, I'm sticking by my observation about better tests, treatments, and scans for breast cancer versus thyroid cancer. There aren't tests to tell whether or not a nodule in the thyroid is malignant or not (unless you get "lucky" and get a positive hit on an FNA) and the resolution on an ultrasound leaves a lot to be desired versus a mammogram.
Breast cancer *is* more common than thyroid cancer and it IS much more aggressive - especially when it's estrogen fed. However, cancer in the thyroid is still cancer and shouldn't be dismissed like many people (and doctors) do. Some forms of thyroid cancer tend to metastize (as does breast cancer and most other cancers) and can be just as deadly. Plus there is NO huge PR effort to get thyroids scanned and checked (unlike breast, colon, and prostrate cancers). No one really thinks about their thyroids until something goes wrong then the cascade effect throughout the body is overwhelming.
utahmomma,
What types of thyroid cancer mestasize this is really scary I thought the majority of thyroid cancers don't spread beyond the thyroid and are very treatable and curable except that anaplastic type which is very rare and mostly people in their 60's and older get it. I agree there really needs to be much better screening and dettections for thyroid cancers. But benign thyroid nodules are still much more common than benihn breast nodules compared to cancerous breast growths. I mean do they say 50% of women get benign breast growths and that 90-95% are benign and only a very small % are cancerous?
What types of thyroid cancer mestasize this is really scary I thought the majority of thyroid cancers don't spread beyond the thyroid and are very treatable and curable except that anaplastic type which is very rare and mostly people in their 60's and older get it. I agree there really needs to be much better screening and dettections for thyroid cancers. But benign thyroid nodules are still much more common than benihn breast nodules compared to cancerous breast growths. I mean do they say 50% of women get benign breast growths and that 90-95% are benign and only a very small % are cancerous?
3 years ago in the Fall of 2003, I had went to my gynocologist for a regular check up and I hadn't been there for a year and 3 months. My doctor tells me then,a year and 3 months later that my pap smear came back with some abnormal cells! I was so afraid I didn't sleep for almost a week until my new pap test came back and the doctor put a rush on it. I have had 2 pap smears including that one after I found out and they have both been normal. But I haven't had a pap test in almost 3 years because the insurance companies don't pay for it until then and gynocologists don't recommend getting one sooner unless you have real risk factors which I don't. But I started to have some reddish brownish blodd spotting a little bit in between my period last fall and it still happens sometimes although it goes away for a couple of months at a time.
I went to my gynocologist last fall about this and she just gave me a regular gyno exam,and didn't see anything wrong. But it happened again a month later so I went back and was seen by another gynocologist who is there when my doctor isn't since my doctor is only there two days a week. This gyno doctor also gave me a regular gyno exam and said everything looks normal. I said isn't there any other test you can give me? She said no just a gynological exam. She said if you were bleeding heavily then she would be real concerned. Well I wasn't satisfied with this so I went to my internist. Now my mother died at 49 from uterine cancer,so I was really worried about this. My internist said that there are certain things you can't see with a regular gynological exam,and she gave me a prescription to get a pelvic vaginal ultrasound,and she said she didn't think it was anything serious and that it could be fibroids but that given that my mother died of uterine cancer she said it was totally understandable I would be worried. I had the pelvic vaginal ultrasound in October the same day I had my thyroid ultrasound that I asked for to check for my weight and slow matoblism. My pelvic ultrasound was totally normal,and the mammogram I had three days later was also normal,but I got the wonderful call from my internist three days after my thyroid ultrasound that I had three small nodules which I never even heard of before!
I went to my gynocologist last fall about this and she just gave me a regular gyno exam,and didn't see anything wrong. But it happened again a month later so I went back and was seen by another gynocologist who is there when my doctor isn't since my doctor is only there two days a week. This gyno doctor also gave me a regular gyno exam and said everything looks normal. I said isn't there any other test you can give me? She said no just a gynological exam. She said if you were bleeding heavily then she would be real concerned. Well I wasn't satisfied with this so I went to my internist. Now my mother died at 49 from uterine cancer,so I was really worried about this. My internist said that there are certain things you can't see with a regular gynological exam,and she gave me a prescription to get a pelvic vaginal ultrasound,and she said she didn't think it was anything serious and that it could be fibroids but that given that my mother died of uterine cancer she said it was totally understandable I would be worried. I had the pelvic vaginal ultrasound in October the same day I had my thyroid ultrasound that I asked for to check for my weight and slow matoblism. My pelvic ultrasound was totally normal,and the mammogram I had three days later was also normal,but I got the wonderful call from my internist three days after my thyroid ultrasound that I had three small nodules which I never even heard of before!
I posted two comments that are listed as my posting on the board,but they didn't post in the topic! I had said to utahmomma,that it's really scary that they didn't know from the ultrasond that your sister had a lymph node effected,I'm really scared that I could have it and that my lymph nodes could be effected and they won't be able to se it on the ultrasound! Also I said that benign growths in the thyroid are much more comon than benign growths in the breasts and breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer.
I tend to agree 100% with your thoughts .... they seem to be the way I've been thinking about this, too! The one thing that really IRCKS me is when people say, "Oh ... it is only a few atypical cells" ............ all it takes is 1 Cancer cell .. Don't they get it? Tell them the same scenario in a breast or something and they will understand; I guess it is bcz of lack of knowledge and sometimes when people don't "fully get it" they grope for a "comfort zone" within themselves to feel better about talking that which they are clueless << wink wink >>!
Cheryl
Cheryl
Hi everyone, my new nickname has been changed to fanoffab4 because this is what I had picked orginally not fanofbab4,and that was a mistake.
Anyway, utahmomma that is really very scary that they can't tell if the lymph nodes are effected by the ultrasound and didn't find it in your sister until after she had the surgery! That makes me really scared because how do I know that I don't have it and that this isn't the casewith me!
Anyway, utahmomma that is really very scary that they can't tell if the lymph nodes are effected by the ultrasound and didn't find it in your sister until after she had the surgery! That makes me really scared because how do I know that I don't have it and that this isn't the casewith me!
Utahmomma,
benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer.
benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer.
hi guys. I haven't posted for a bit, but I have been reading. The direction this particular thread is taking is exactly why I was insistant upon seeing this tumor I have removed even though the FNA was benign. It has become a mute point since it is large and is getting larger....but I would still want it out. I mean who really knows...I will just feel better knowing it is not there and that there is no chance that there are any cancer cells! sheesh...like you guys say...what if it was breast tissue..or cervical tissue...?
I don't have a lot to go on with the breast cancer FNA versus thyroid - just family experience. From what I've seen there is much better technology, better detection, and more aggressive treatment with breast cancer.
Another problem is the thyroid tissue is surrounded with dense muscles, tendons, nerves, and vascular structure. It's harder to detect accurately what's in there than the more . . . um . . . *fluffy* tissue of the breast (and this coming from someone with a TERRIBLE case of fibrocystic breast disease). With a mammogram they can isolate the breast tissue while smashing (oops, I mean scanning) it - the thyroid tissue can't be isolated to be scanned.
Needle biopsies, whether breast of thyroid, are usually guided by an ultrasound but the accuracy seems to be much higher on breast biopsies - perhaps because it's easier to localize the suspicious area.
Have a family history of both diseases, it's frustrating to me to see people take an abnormal growth so casually in the thyroid but jump right on it if it's in the breast. Before I get flamed, I know that breast cancer is much more aggressive and deadly than thyroid cancer but I really don't think many people realize how much of their body depends on a healthy thyroid (I didn't).
Just my opinion and observations.
Another problem is the thyroid tissue is surrounded with dense muscles, tendons, nerves, and vascular structure. It's harder to detect accurately what's in there than the more . . . um . . . *fluffy* tissue of the breast (and this coming from someone with a TERRIBLE case of fibrocystic breast disease). With a mammogram they can isolate the breast tissue while smashing (oops, I mean scanning) it - the thyroid tissue can't be isolated to be scanned.
Needle biopsies, whether breast of thyroid, are usually guided by an ultrasound but the accuracy seems to be much higher on breast biopsies - perhaps because it's easier to localize the suspicious area.
Have a family history of both diseases, it's frustrating to me to see people take an abnormal growth so casually in the thyroid but jump right on it if it's in the breast. Before I get flamed, I know that breast cancer is much more aggressive and deadly than thyroid cancer but I really don't think many people realize how much of their body depends on a healthy thyroid (I didn't).
Just my opinion and observations.
One would think your FNA would have been atypical if they found cancer (it just doesn't make sense) ...... the more one starts thinking about this thyroid stuff the more it is complicated! Yet they tell us that the
Do you think there is as much % false benign's with breast cancer as with thyroid? Or is there alot of back and forth and "what if's" with breast lump fNA's that come back benign but have ?'able ultrasound attributes?
C~
Do you think there is as much % false benign's with breast cancer as with thyroid? Or is there alot of back and forth and "what if's" with breast lump fNA's that come back benign but have ?'able ultrasound attributes?
C~
Precancerous IS atypical. There were cellular changes which could (and in my family, probably WOULD) have led to cancer. Kind of like an atypical pap smear. That doesn't mean you have cancer but you do need to get it treated because those "atypical" cells have a higher chance of mutating into malignant cells than normal cells do. With my family's overwhelming history of papillary carcinoma we knew it was nothing to mess with. Just like you would take a breast lump more serious if all of your sisters had been through breast cancer.
There was a small bit of cancer in the lymph node nearest to my sister's thyroid. Sometimes if more than one spot of cancer is found in the thyroid they will take the closest lymph nodes to check for lymph node involvement (just like they would do on some breast cancer surgeries). They took two lymph nodes on my sister. The one nearest the thyroid had a small amount of papillary carcinoma, the next one didn't. The amount of cancer found it the lymph node was *tiny* (almost needed magnification to see it) but small or not, it was there so she was diagnosed as Stage II.
None of this was found on the ultrasound or would be seen on any scan. It was all found in surgery between the pathologist and the surgeon.
There was a small bit of cancer in the lymph node nearest to my sister's thyroid. Sometimes if more than one spot of cancer is found in the thyroid they will take the closest lymph nodes to check for lymph node involvement (just like they would do on some breast cancer surgeries). They took two lymph nodes on my sister. The one nearest the thyroid had a small amount of papillary carcinoma, the next one didn't. The amount of cancer found it the lymph node was *tiny* (almost needed magnification to see it) but small or not, it was there so she was diagnosed as Stage II.
None of this was found on the ultrasound or would be seen on any scan. It was all found in surgery between the pathologist and the surgeon.
Atpical: As an example to help you better understand precancerous cells ...
They show some cell changes but not totally convincing to the pathologist the changes are cancer and, thus, that lobe is fully removed and fully biopsied (on & off the table).
17% of all atypical nodules if left in place WILL become Cancer according to my Pathologist so that in itself was enough convincing to have a partial thyroidectomy.
C~
They show some cell changes but not totally convincing to the pathologist the changes are cancer and, thus, that lobe is fully removed and fully biopsied (on & off the table).
17% of all atypical nodules if left in place WILL become Cancer according to my Pathologist so that in itself was enough convincing to have a partial thyroidectomy.
C~
pre-cancerous is the same terminology (I believe) as Atypical or Suspicious.
Cheryl
Cheryl
utahmomma,
How small were your sister's nodules and how did they find out her lymph nodes were effected? Could they tell this at all from an ultrasound because when I get another ultrasound on January 17 ay University of Penn Hospital I want to make sure I don't have this!
How small were your sister's nodules and how did they find out her lymph nodes were effected? Could they tell this at all from an ultrasound because when I get another ultrasound on January 17 ay University of Penn Hospital I want to make sure I don't have this!
Thanks to everyone for responding. Tipper Gore had a nodule in 1999 that had two inconclusive biopsies so she had one side of her thyroid removed and it was benign. The CNN article about this is still online and it says her blood tests were normal and her thyroid was functioning normally.
utamomma, how many nodules did your 24 year old sister have? Was she the only one in your family with more than 1 nodule that was cancerous?
utamomma, how many nodules did your 24 year old sister have? Was she the only one in your family with more than 1 nodule that was cancerous?
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