Thyroid Cancer Treatment | Apollo Cancer Centres

Lobectomy/Hemi thyroidectomy - In this surgery, only the lobe of the thyroid where the tumour is located is removed, leaving the other lobe of the thyroid intact. This may get recommended in case of a slow-growing small thyroid tumour that has not spread to the nodes. It is done endoscopically or robot-assisted.
Total Thyroidectomy - It is the removal of the entire thyroid gland. Lymph nodes in the area of the tumour or in the neck/chest may also be removed. During this surgery, the surgeon preserves the parathyroid gland, which helps regulate the calcium levels in the blood.
Lymph node dissection - A lymph node dissection is done for thyroid tumours that are present in the thyroid gland and has spread to the lymph nodes. Cancer spreads to the central compartment lymph nodes (the pretracheal, paratracheal, and prelaryngeal lymph nodes) or may spread to lymph nodes in other neck parts (lateral neck node dissection).

Thyroid hormone therapy - High TSH levels can stimulate any remaining cancer cells to grow. After thyroidectomy, the doctor may recommend thyroid hormone medication. It compensates for the hormone the thyroid would normally produce and suppresses the production of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland.
Radioactive Iodine Therapy -Radioactive Iodine is given to patients with thyroid cancer after their cancer has been removed. Normal thyroid cells or remnant thyroid cancer cells in the patient's body absorb and concentrate the radioactive iodine. Since other cells in the body cannot absorb the radioactive iodine, they are unharmed. The thyroid cancer cells, however, will concentrate the radioactive iodine within themselves, and the radioactivity destroys the cell.
Recombinant TSH - Generally, Radioactive Iodine therapy mandates the stoppage of thyroid replacement medication. This induces hypothyroidism in the patient. To prevent this, an alternate method to raise TSH levels is administering recombinant TSH. This will avoid hypothyroidism.

Radiotherapy is very rarely used in tumours which are unresponsive to rad. Iodine has aggressive features.

Chemotherapy - Chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxic drugs that kill cancer cells. They are not used regularly in thyroid cancer except in cases of anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Targeted drug therapy

Targeted therapy plays an important role in thyroid cancer treatment (especially in differentiated thyroid cancer). The biopsy sample can be sent for genetic analysis to decide which targeted therapy would be a good option for the patient.
Targeted therapy also plays a very important role in treating Metastatic Iodine Non -responsive cancers and Metastatic or Unresectable Medullary cancers, prolonging longevity and providing a good quality of life.
Lymphomas of the thyroid are extremely rare and are treated depending on their histology. There is no role of surgery in thyroid lymphoma. Chemotherapy is the most important treatment option.

Immunotherapy -Immunotherapy is a drug that uses the immune system to fight cancer. The indication for immunotherapy is based on immunohistochemical and molecular tests in advanced disease and recurrence. Generally patients tolerate immunotherapy well.