Q: Following the detection of cancer, what are the necessary steps that should be taken and what are the chances of beating the cancer itself?
A: Papillary and follicular thyroid carcinomas (accounting for about 95% of thyroid carcinomas) are characterized by a good prognosis of a 5-year survival rate after diagnosis and well above 90% of cases involving thyroid carcinoma proceed to total thyroidectomy (removal of the entire thyroid gland). In selected cases, total thyroidectomy followed by radioiodine treatment with radioactive iodine, can eliminate any thyroid and / or residual tumor. The patient is then placed in therapy with L-thyroxine and periodically subjected to ultrasound of the neck. Their levels of thyroglobulin (Tg) are also constantly monitored. Thyroglobulin is a molecule that is exclusively produced by thyroid cells and is therefore useful for the identification of a possible disease.
