Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, also called Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland. It was named for the Japanese surgeon who discovered it in 1912 The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland in the front of the neck. The thyroid makes hormones called T3 and T4. These hormones regulate metabolism. The thyroid is controlled by hormones of the pituitary gland, which is also called the “master gland.” It is a pea-sized gland located in the base of the brain which, among others, makes thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH. TSH stimulates the thyroid to make thyroid hormone. With Hashimoto’s disease, the thyroid cells are damaged resulting in the inability to make enough thyroid

T.C. went out for testing immediately and unfortunately the test came back that the cancer had aggressively metastasized throughout his body. His pain level increase daily and he became increasingly dependent for all aspects of daily care. Prognosis was for weeks rather then months.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors comprise a spectrum of tumors including low grade neuroendocrine tumors (typical carcinoids), intermediate grade neuroendocrine tumors (atypical carcinoids) and high grade neuroendocrine tumors (large cell neuroendocrine and small cell carcinomas). Carcinoid tumors comprise about 0.5 to 5% of all lung tumors and are malignant tumors with the potential to metastasize.2-4 Typical carcinoids comprise about 90% of all pulmonary carcinoids and show a high degree of differentiation, rare mitoses (<3 mitotic figures/10 hpf), scarce pleomorphism or necrosis. The remaining 10% are atypical carcinoids, which are characterized by increased mitotic activity (>3 but <10 mitoses/ 10 hpf, cellular atypia and increased pleomorphism or necrosis. Atypical carcinoids tend to have a higher rate of metastasis and are larger at the time of diagnosis.4 Specimens with >10 mitoses/10 hpf are either small cell or large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas. Of these features, it has been shown that only the number of mitoses is a predictor for prognosis.5

Most are common only around 5% coming to be cancerous. Most times when a person has a thyroid nodule they have no symptoms. If the nodule is causing your glands to make too many hormones it can cause what is called hyperthyroidism. Symptoms of this include palpitations, rapid heart rate, anxiety, restlessness and an increased appetite. If your doctor suspects thyroid nodules they will do tests such as an ultrasound or a thyroid scan. A good example of a procedure done by an endocrinologist is an LHRH test. This test is done to see how your pituitary gland is working when it comes to regulating sex hormone production. The night of this procedure you are to not eat or drink anything. When you go in, you will be made comfortable and have a small needle inserted into a vein in your hand or arm. This is just to get a blood sample and is not to stay. Whoever is taking the blood will use a needle such as a ventflon to make drawing the blood sample easy with little to no discomfort. The blood is then checked for hormones LH and LSH then you get an injection to make the levels of those hormones rise. You will have blood drawn twice. Once each after 30

The aggressiveness of each type of thyroid cancer is different. There are four main stages in each of the types of thyroid cancer except for anaplastic cancer (Rubin 91). In the stage I of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, the cancer is located only in the thyroid and may be found in one or both of the lobes. In stage II if the patients are younger than 45 years of age, the cancer has spread beyond the thyroid. But if the patient is older than 45 years of age, the cancer is only in the thyroid and is larger than 1 centimeter. In stage III, the cancer is usually found in patients older than 45 years of age and has spread outside of the thyroid or has spread to the lymph nodes but not outside of the neck. In stage IV, the cancer is again usually found in patients over the age of 45. It most likely has spread to other parts of the

What is thyroid cancer, and is it dangerous? To answer this one must first know the function of the thyroid. A thyroid is a gland at the front of the neck right under the sound box, which secretes hormones that affect heart rate, body temperature and weight. It also makes calcitonin, which keeps a healthy level of calcium in the body. Thyroids are made up of tissue, when the cells that make up the tissue of the thyroid gland start to form unnecessarily, and cells that are damaged are not killed, tumors called nodules form on the thyroid thus resulting in cancer. Around 45,000 women and 15,000 men were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2013 alone, most of whom were above the age of 45. However getting thyroid cancer is not the worst thing in the world as it is treatable but there should still be more investment and research put into this disease so that less risky methods of taking out the cancer can be found.

Thyroid nodules are lumps in the thyroid often called adenomas. These adenomas are quite common affecting around seven percent our countries population. These lumps on the thyroid can become very active and thus produce a large amount of thyroid hormone. In some cases hyperthyroidism is brought on by consuming too much medication that treats an underactive thyroid.

At this time, it is not clear how much diagnostic radiation is contributing to the increase in thyroid cancer cases. It is possible that the increase in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer can be attributed to a greater rate of detection by use of ultrasonography and fine needle aspiration3. The thyroid tissue itself is among the tissues that are less sensitive to radiation, however, thyroid cancer is still such a concern because the thyroid is so superficial in the body1 (77). “Even doses as small as 50–100 mGy have been associated with an increased risk of thyroid malignancy in children, with a

The doctor can tell more about these if it is required .Medullary thyroid cancer is the third most common type of thyroid cancer. The common medullary thyroid cancer symptoms and treatments as well as medullary thyroid cancer diagnosis and prognosis can be discussed. Characteristics of Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Occurs in 4 clinical settings associated with other endocrine tumors, it is more common in females than males, Regional metastases which spread to neck lymph nodes occurs early in the disease, Spread to distant organs (metastasis) which occurs late and can be to the liver, bone, brain, and adrenal medulla, it is not related with radiation exposure, and mostly originates in the upper central lobe of the thyroid, Poor prognostic factors include mean older than 50 years old, distant spread (metastases), and due to MEN II-B syndrome seen in patients with other endocrine tumors, other residual disease or recurrence can be detected by measuring calcitonin. Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MTC) is a distinct thyroid carcinoma that originates in the Para follicular C cells of the thyroid gland. These C cells produce

The pathology I found for this assignment is “Tumor of the Thyroid - Papillary Carcinoma” is the most common type of thyroid cancer, comprising approximately 80% of all primary thyroid malignancies. Benign encapsulated tumor with evidence or follicular epithelial cell differentiation showing growth pattern and cytomorphology different from the surrounding thyroid parenchyma, but lacking features of thyroid papillary carcinoma. Papillary thyroid cancer characteristics: Unencapsulated tumor nodule with ill-defined margins, tumor typically firm and solid, may present as nodal enlargement, commonly metastasizes to neck and mediastinal lymph nodes (40% to 60% in adults and 90% in children), <5% of patients have distant metastases at time of diagnosis, and lung is most common site.

Thyroid: Adenomas in the thyroid are most common. More so some of them turn fatal. A biopsy is required to detect these type of adenoma.

patient mortality. Due to the complex nature of the metastatic cascade, along with limited adequate preclinical

Toxic nodular goiters are nodules that secrete thyroid hormones independent of TSH stimulation. They are usually benign follicular adenomas. Nodules larger than about 3 cm can cause a thyrotoxic crisis, also known as thyroid storm. This is a life threatening emergency; death is rare if treatment is initiated early and vigorously.

The differentiation of single benign nodule and malignant one is considered an important goal. Early diagnosis of thyroid cancer avoids unneeded surgery in those complaining of benign nodules and decreases both mortality and morbidity rates of the disease (2).

WARNING: The following information may be hard to swallow. “The American Cancer Society predict[ed] 62,450 people w[ould] be diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2015” (2). Though this amount is relatively small, patients can always find comfort and assistance in organizations such as the American Thyroid Association (ATA). “The ATA is the leading organization focused on thyroid biology and the prevention and treatment of thyroid disorders. Performed “through excellence and innovation in research, clinical care, education, and public health”, the ATA is making a difference. (“Research Accomplishments” 1).