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How is thyroid cancer diagnosed?
Thyroid cancer is often discovered by patients themselves. You may see or feel a lump or
nodule on the front of your neck, or your doctor may notice a nodule during a routine
physical examination.
Fortunately, most of the time, nodules are benign, which means they are not life-threatening.
Only about 1 out of every 20 nodules ever turns out to be cancerous. In fact, benign thyroid
nodules are extremely common. However, most nodules are so small that they are never
discovered by the patient or doctor. Your doctor can usually make a diagnosis of a thyroid
nodule with little risk or discomfort to you. He or she will carefully examine your thyroid
gland for other nodules or for a goitre (enlarged thyroid gland) by pressing on it.
Once a thyroid lump or nodule is discovered, your doctor will probably ask how you have
been
feeling and if you are experiencing any symptoms possibly caused by thyroid nodules.
After completing the physical examination and taking your medical history, the doctor will
likely do more tests, including:
- Blood tests (to measure the level of thyroid hormones)
- Thyroid imaging tests or scans (to take a picture of your entire thyroid gland)
- Thyroid biopsy (to take a small sample of the thyroid gland and see if it contains
cancerous cells)
Once you've been diagnosed, the next step may be
treatment or
surgery.
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