What is the main cause of thyroid cancer?

What is the main cause of thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer is linked with a number of inherited conditions (described in Thyroid cancer risk factors), but the exact cause of most thyroid cancers is not yet known. Certain changes in a person’s DNA can cause thyroid cells to become cancerous.

Who is more susceptible to thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer is more common in women than in men, and more so during their reproductive years. The highest number of women diagnosed with thyroid cancer are between the ages of 44 and 49 years. Men are more likely to develop thyroid cancer at an older age. For example between the ages of 80 to 84 years.

What percentage of thyroid cancer is hereditary?

Known factors that increase the chance of developing papillary thyroid cancer are radiation exposure to the head and neck area, iodine deficiency and history of thyroid diseases. Approximately 5% of thyroid cancers are thought to run in families (familial thyroid cancer).

How do u know if u have thyroid cancer?

A lump in the neck, sometimes growing quickly. Swelling in the neck. Pain in the front of the neck, sometimes going up to the ears. Hoarseness or other voice changes that do not go away.

Does thyroid cancer show up in blood work?

Blood tests. Blood tests are not used to find thyroid cancer. But they can help show if your thyroid is working normally, which may help the doctor decide what other tests may be needed. They can also be used to monitor certain cancers.

Do thyroid diseases run in families?

But according to endocrinologist Christian Nasr, MD, many thyroid diseases do run in families. “Knowing your family history can help you stay one step ahead of complications from a thyroid disorder and related conditions,” he says.

Can clustering of cancers in families cause thyroid cancer?

Clustering of cancers in families isn’t unique to thyroid cancer. Some families carry a mutation that suppresses “good” genes in the body, which can put them at risk for a variety of cancers. “Different syndromes can increase someone’s risk for certain types of cancer,” Dr. Nasr explains.

Does papillary thyroid cancer run in families?

Sporadic thyroid cancer: usual form of thyroid cancer that does not have a genetic component and does not run in families. Most papillary thyroid cancers occur in individuals without a family history of thyroid cancer (sporadic thyroid cancer).

What is familial thyroid cancer?

Familial thyroid cancer: type of thyroid cancer that runs in families that is not medullary thyroid cancer. This is usually papillary thyroid cancer and occurs in about 10% of thyroid cancers.