Irradiation
Radiation therapy is performed after surgery or radioiodine therapy. The goal of radiation is the destruction of remaining tumor cells or the smallest metastases in the tumor region. In most cases, radiation is only used for healing if the tumor was not completely removed in the previous treatment steps. Radiation also inhibits the growth of metastases. Irradiation has developed considerably in recent years and can now be planned and carried out very precisely using advanced technology and computer programs, which means that the radiation dose is kept at the lowest possible level and the after-effects on other organs have become less frequent.
Chemotherapy
So far, chemotherapy has played a rather minor role in thyroid cancer. Only the very aggressive and non-differentiated types of thyroid cancer respond to chemotherapy to a certain extent. Current research is focused on the development of new drugs that target the signaling pathways altered by the cancer.
These new drugs are the rays of hope for cancers that cannot be cured by standard procedures. Previous studies show an improvement in relation to the cure of thyroid cancer. Chemotherapy is mainly used when surgery no longer promises a cure and radioiodine therapy is not possible.
Metastases
Initially, the tumor is limited to the thyroid gland. However, as it continues to grow, the tumor breaks through the connective tissue capsule that surrounds the thyroid gland and can affect adjacent tissue, lymph nodes, nerves, vessels and other organs.The cancer cells can spread throughout the body via the blood and lymphatic system and can also attack other, more distant organs. So-called metastases (daughter tumors) then form there.
The most common sites for metastases in thyroid cancer are the lymph nodes in the neck, lungs, liver, brain and bones. The chances of cure for advanced thyroid cancer with distant metastases are poor. In most cases a complete cure is impossible.
In rare cases, patients live for several years despite thyroid cancer and metastases. It can be tried to remove the metastases surgically to cure the disease. This is often the only option because thyroid cancer is not very sensitive to chemotherapy. For most types of cancer, life expectancy is still good even with metastases. However, metastases from other malignant tumors, such as skin cancer, breast cancer or lung cancer, can also occur in the thyroid gland.