Differentiated Thyroid Cancer- what to know?

Differentiated Thyroid Cancer, commonly referred to as DTC, affects the thyroid gland of the patient. The thyroid is an important part of our body as it regulates the heart rate and blood pressure. Getting infected with this cancer can hamper all its important functions.

However, the plus side is that this can be cured very easily. If the cancer is diagnosed early and the patient is below 50 years of age, then there is a high chance that cancer can be cured easily. This is the most common type of thyroid cancer and constitutes 95% of people’s thyroid cancer cases.

Causes of DTC

As is the case with most cancerous growths, there is no specific cause that can be attributed as the source of differentiated thyroid cancer. Generally, it has been found that cancer of the thyroid gland occurs when the organ undergoes any mutation. The mutation’s main effect is that the cells start growing abnormally without dying, causing the formation of lumps and swellings in the gland. This ultimately transforms into a tumor and can spread to other organ systems as well.

What are the symptoms?

The main problem with DTC is that there are hardly any symptoms in the early stages of cancer, making it hard to be diagnosed. However, as cancer grows, some symptoms might show up. The symptoms are listed as follows:

• You can feel a lump in your neck by touching from outside.
• In the later stages, the patient feels increasing difficulty in swallowing.
• The patient can also start to feel swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
• Sometimes there is a change in the voice of the person, and the hoarseness increases.
• The growth of cancer also leads to experiencing pain in the neck and throat.

Treatment of DTC

A few methods of treating the DTC depend upon the patient physiology and extent of the cancer growth. Some of the common treatment methods are:

• Surgery is the most commonly used treatment. There are multiple kinds of surgery that are mainly used to remove the cancerous part of the thyroid to prevent it from spreading to other organs and systems.
• Hormonal therapy is used to slow down the growth of cancer in the thyroid.
• Radiation therapy is used in advanced stages for killing cancerous cells.
• Targeted therapy is used when the other treatments do not have any effect. It targets specific cancer cells to prevent them from growing.

Lenvakast 10mg is one of the popular medications used for treating DTC.