Thyroid cancer is 3 to 4 times more common in females than in males. Papillary thyroid cancer is probably the most common type of thyroid cancer.
The symptoms of thyroid cancer are sometimes vague and are similar in people of any sex. However, thyroid cancer is commonly detected at an earlier age in females than in males.
This article will discuss the symptoms of thyroid cancer in females. It can even explore testing, treatment, and disease outlook (prognosis).
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A Note on Gender and Sex Terminology
Verywell Health acknowledges that sex and gender are related concepts, but they usually are not the identical. To reflect our sources accurately, this text uses terms like “female,” “male,” “woman,” and “man” because the sources use them.
First Symptoms of Thyroid Cancer in Females
Females typically are diagnosed with thyroid cancer during their reproductive years through to their early 40s. The peak age at diagnosis for females ranges from 40 to 44. In contrast, males often get thyroid cancer after they’re older. The average age of thyroid cancer onset for males is 70 to 74.
Many common symptoms of this condition result from other health conditions, including those who affect the thyroid like goiters and Graves’ disease.
Thyroid cancer symptoms which can be common in each women and men include:
- A painless neck lump (nodule) within the front of the neck
- Swollen lymph nodes within the neck
- Neck pain, which can migrate to the ears
- Hoarseness
- Persistent cough
- Voice changes
- Trouble respiratory
- Trouble swallowing
- Fatigue
Small subclinical papillary thyroid cancerous tumors usually tend to be identified and diagnosed early in females than in males. Because these tumors are so small, they often escape detection unless they’re actively searched for. It’s unclear why subclinical tumors are uncovered more often in females than in males.
If you have noticed changes to your menstrual period or symptoms like hot flashes which can be commonly related to menopause, you might be concerned that you’ve thyroid cancer. However, a lot of these symptoms usually are not commonly related to thyroid cancer. Hot flashes will be brought on by medullary thyroid cancer (a rare type of thyroid cancer) and affect people of any sex.
The thyroid produces hormones that help to manage ovulation and the menstrual cycle. Unlike thyroid diseases like hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), thyroid cancer doesn’t cause changes to ovulation or menstruation.
Common Thyroid Cancers in Women
Four fundamental sorts of thyroid cancer may affect females. They are:
- Papillary: The commonest variety of thyroid cancer and probably the most common cancer overall diagnosed in women under 25
- Follicular: Most common in women over 40
- Medullary: The rarest type of thyroid cancer
- Anaplastic: Most common in women over 60
Symptoms Without a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis
You can have thyroid cancer symptoms without having thyroid cancer. Not every neck lump is cancerous. Thyroid nodules could also be brought on by multiple conditions, each benign and malignant.
Papillary thyroid cancer can grow slowly and present with mild symptoms. It’s possible to have thyroid cancer for months and even years without knowing or being diagnosed.
In contrast, anaplastic thyroid cancer, a less common type, is aggressive and grows quickly. This variety of cancer may cause a big throat lump to form, seemingly out of nowhere, inside weeks or months.
Being Asymptomatic at Diagnosis
Thyroid cancer symptoms are sometimes subtle, and should be ignored. It’s possible to have a thyroid nodule that’s cancerous, and never pay attention to it for a while.
Most thyroid cancers are asymptomatic (with few or no symptoms). For that reason, you might not know—and be surprised—that you’ve a thyroid condition once you first get diagnosed. Keep in mind, though, that thyroid cancer is very treatable and infrequently curable.
Conditions Diagnosed Instead of Thyroid Cancer
If you do have symptoms, comparable to a neck lump, they’re more more likely to be brought on by conditions apart from thyroid cancer, comparable to:
Testing to Diagnose Thyroid Cancer in Women
Symptoms of thyroid cancer, like a throat lump or swollen lymph nodes, are sometimes discovered during a routine physical exam. If you or your healthcare provider suspects thyroid cancer, additional testing will likely be done.
Your healthcare provider will ask you about your symptoms. They’ll also need to know if you’ve a family history of thyroid cancer and other conditions which can be related to thyroid disease. They’ll also ask about potential risk aspects you might have, like exposure to radiation, especially in childhood.
Your provider will make note of your body mass index (BMI), since thyroid cancer risk increases with extra weight.
Tests for thyroid cancer in females include:
- Ultrasound: Imaging using sound waves is used to find out if a neck lump is firm and more likely to be cancerous or cyst-like and full of fluid.
- Radioiodine scan: This imaging test assesses neck lumps for some sorts of thyroid cancer and other thyroid conditions.
- Positron-emission tomography (PET) scan: This variety of imaging checks for spread to nearby lymph nodes and other areas.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This imaging test analyzes the thyroid gland and checks for nearby or distant spread
- Computed tomography (CT) scan: This scan assesses the dimensions and placement of tumors.
- Chest X-ray: This imaging test checks for spread into the lungs.
- Blood tests: Thyroid function tests are used to detect or rule out other types of thyroid disease.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is required to make a definitive diagnosis of cancer.
In a biopsy, a tissue sample will likely be removed and analyzed in a laboratory for evidence of malignancy. Usually, a effective needle aspiration technique will likely be used to extract cells from the suspicious nodule.
How to Treat Thyroid Cancer and Manage Symptoms
If you are diagnosed with thyroid cancer, the variety of cancer you’ve and the extent of spread (if any) will determine your treatment. The commonest area of thyroid cancer spread is to nearby lymph nodes within the neck.
If you are asymptomatic and have a slow-growing cancer, your healthcare provider may recommend watchful waiting, with ongoing monitoring quite than aggressive treatment.
The commonest type of treatment for thyroid cancer is surgical removal of all or a part of the thyroid gland. If the malignancy has spread to lymph nodes within the neck, they can even be removed surgically, often at the identical time,
If your entire thyroid gland is removed (thyroidectomy), you will likely be placed on thyroid hormone pills that mimic the thyroid’s function.
Chemotherapy is just not commonly used for many sorts of thyroid cancer. It may, nonetheless, be beneficial, together with external beam radiation therapy, for anaplastic thyroid cancer in some instances.
If the cancer has spread to the neck or other areas of the body, a nonsurgical procedure called radioiodine (RAI) therapy could also be beneficial. During this procedure, you will likely be given radioactive iodine in either pill, liquid, or injectable form.
If these procedures aren’t effective, kinase inhibitors, a variety of targeted therapy drug, could also be used, depending on the characteristics of the cancer. Kinases are a variety of protein present in cells. Their job is to relay signals that tell the cell the best way to behave and grow. Blocking kinases can sometimes help with cancer treatment.
Thyroid Cancer Prognosis and Treatment Success
Most sorts of thyroid cancer are highly treatable and even curable. The overall five-year relative survival rate for every kind of thyroid cancer combined is 98.4%.
The variety of thyroid cancer you’ve and the stage it’s in will determine your potential prognosis. Keep in mind that these numbers are only estimates that do not reflect the experiences of every one with thyroid cancer. They’re also based on the treatments used at the least five years ago.
Localized Thyroid Cancer
Papillary, follicular, and medullary thyroid cancers all have a 99.5% five-year relative survival rate for localized cancers that have not spread outside of the thyroid.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer, probably the most aggressive type, has a much lower five-year survival rate of 39% for localized cancers.
Regional Thyroid Cancer
If your cancer has spread to nearby regions (regional spread), the relative five-year survival rates dip barely for papillary, follicular, and medullary cancers but significantly for anaplastic cancer:
- Papillary: 99%
- Follicular: 98%
- Medullary: 92%
- Anaplastic: 11%.
Distant Thyroid Cancer
if the cancer has metastasized (spread) to distant areas of the body, the five-year survival rates are as follows:
- Papillary: 74%
- Follicular: 67%
- Medullary: 43%
- Anaplastic: 4%
Summary
Thyroid cancer is around 3 to 4 times more common in females than in males. Women are inclined to be diagnosed at an earlier age than men with this disease.
Thyroid cancer symptoms are sometimes subtle and should go unnoticed for prolonged periods of time. A painless lump, swollen neck lymph nodes, or neck pain could also be symptoms.
Most types of thyroid cancer, including papillary cancer (probably the most common type), are highly treatable and curable. The exception is anaplastic thyroid cancer, which is very aggressive but less common.
