Thyroid cancer

The thyroid is a small gland in the front of your neck, just below your voicebox (larynx). The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system. This system makes hormones that help control the way your body functions.

Thyroid cancer is not common. Around 3,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year. Thyroid cancer can happen at any age. It is more common in women

The thyroid gland is close to the parathyroid glands. They have similar names, but they do different things. Thyroid cancer and parathyroid cancer are treated in different ways. We have separate information about parathyroid cancer.

The most common symptom of thyroid cancer is a painless lump in the neck. Most thyroid lumps are not cancerous (benign) but it is important to get any lump checked.

Other symptoms include:

• a hoarse voice that has no obvious cause and does not go away after a few weeks
• difficulty swallowing – caused by a thyroid tumour pressing on the gullet (oesophagus)
• difficulty breathing – caused by a thyroid tumour pressing on the windpipe (trachea)
• pain in the front of the neck.

You should see your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of these symptoms.

Different types of thyroid cancer may have other symptoms. We have more information about the symptoms of papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic thyroid cancer.

You usually start by seeing your GP, who will examine you. They will refer you to a hospital for specialist advice and treatment if they:

• are unsure what the problem is
• think your symptoms could be caused by cancer.

If they think it could be cancer, you should be seen at the hospital within 2 weeks.

The different types of thyroid cancer may be diagnosed with different types of tests.  Some of the main tests to diagnose thyroid cancer include:

You may also have some further tests. We have more information about diagnosing thyroid cancer.

The treatment you have depends on the:

• type of thyroid cancer
• the stage of the cancer
• your general health.

After your test results, you and your doctor start to talk about your treatment options. Your doctor usually meets with other specialists to discuss the best possible treatment for you. This is called a  multidisciplinary team (MDT).

The MDT look at national treatment guidelines or the latest evidence for the type of cancer you have. If you have any treatment preferences, your doctor will tell them about this.

Thyroid surgery is usually the main treatment for most types of thyroid cancer. You often have other treatment after surgery.

Different types of thyroid cancer are treated differently. We have information about:

• treatment for papillary and follicular thyroid cancer
• treatment for anaplastic thyroid cancer.
• treatment for medullary thyroid cancer

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.