Can advanced thyroid cancer be cured?

Compared to other types of cancer, common types of thyroid cancer have a long progression time and low mortality rate. In particular, current treatment methods are highly effective in treating early stage thyroid cancer.

Is thyroid cancer curable?

According to doctors, if the thyroid is treated early (the tumor is small, has not invaded outside the thyroid gland or metastasized to lymph nodes or distant metastases), the 5-year survival rate can be up to 98-99% in papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, and over 85% in medullary thyroid cancer.

In addition, if the disease is detected and treated when the tumor has metastasized or invaded around the thyroid gland, the patient's 5-year survival rate is still over 90% in some types of cancer.

Even in the late stages, when the tumor has metastasized to other organs such as the brain, lungs, and bones, the 5-year survival rate is still about 50% for most types of thyroid cancer.

In the case of poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, the disease is often only detected at a late stage, causing most patients to only live about 1 year afterwards. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancer accounts for less than 1% of thyroid cancer cases.

Doctor Tran Thi Hoang Anh, Endocrinology specialist, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital shared that most types of thyroid cancer can be completely cured if detected early.

Therefore, everyone, especially those at high risk, should be examined and screened for thyroid cancer every 1-3 years for early detection and timely treatment.

Thyroid Cancer Treatments

Depending on the type of disease and stage, thyroid cancer can be treated with different measures.

If thyroid cancer is detected at an early stage, with papillary thyroid cancer, some cases will be actively monitored with thyroid and neck lymph node ultrasound, possibly combined with neck-chest CT scan with contrast injection.

In this case, the patient needs to be monitored at medical facilities with high expertise, especially in diagnostic imaging.

For small papillary thyroid cancer, the tumor has not invaded and metastasized, the patient can be treated with radiofrequency ablation. This is a highly effective treatment method, with low complication and metastasis rates, and minimal impact on the patient's long-term health.

Like active surveillance, this treatment must be performed at a medical facility with high technology and expertise. Currently, Vinmec Times City has successfully implemented and treated nearly 500 cases of papillary thyroid cancer using radiofrequency ablation.

If it is not papillary thyroid cancer, surgery is the only treatment that can be performed. This is also the most common treatment for all types of thyroid cancer. Depending on the type of cancer, patients will have indications for partial or total thyroidectomy.

In the late stages, total thyroidectomy is the main treatment, the first step in the treatment process. When surgery cannot completely remove the lesion, or the lesion is located in an inoperable location, the patient will need the help of additional supportive treatments.

For papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, radioactive iodine (I131) is one of the most common and highly effective options.

When the disease has metastasized or in cases where surgery is not possible and radioactive iodine treatment is ineffective, to reduce the growth rate and spread of malignant cells, the patient will be considered for radiotherapy. This is a treatment method that uses the energy of radiation beams to eliminate tumor cells.

In addition, currently, thyroid cancer treatment also includes targeted drugs. These are selective cytotoxic drugs that help destroy and prevent the growth of malignant cells.

Targeted drugs are indicated in cases of distant metastasis, resistance to radioactive iodine or inability to be treated with other methods. However, currently the effectiveness of targeted drugs is not high, the cost of treatment is very expensive, so the indications are often quite limited./.