Treatment varies depending on the type of tumor.
Surgery is usually the treatment of choice, with usually the entire thyroid gland removed. If the physician suspects that the cancer has spread to lymph nodes in the neck, these will also be removed during surgery.
Radiation therapy with radioactive iodine is often used with or without surgery. Radiation therapy with beam radiation can also be used.
After treatment, patients need to take thyroid hormone to replace what their glands used to make. The dose is usually a little higher than what the body needs, which helps keep the cancer from coming back.
If the cancer does not respond to surgery or radiation and has spread to other parts of the body, chemotherapy may be used, but this is only effective for about a third of patients.
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