Atlantic Pathology

What are the types of thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer is an illness by which harmful cells are formed (and become cancerous) in the thyroid gland tissue. The thyroid is a gland in the base of the throat near the windpipe. It has the shape of a butterfly; it has a right lobe and a left lobe. The isthmus, a thin piece of tissue, connects the two lobes. A healthy thyroid is a little larger than a quarter dollar. Generally, it is not palpable through the skin. The thyroid uses iodine, a mineral found in some foods and in iodized salt, to help to synthetize several hormones. Thyroid hormones have the following functions:
They control the heart frequency, body temperature, and the speed at which food is transformed into energy (metabolism).
They control the quantity of calcium in the blood.

• Papillary Carcinoma: the most common type of thyroid cancer (95% of all cancer of thyroid) . Easily curable by surgery with excellent prognosis.
• Follicular Carcinoma: Second most common and more aggressive than Papillary Carcinoma.
• Medullary Carcinoma: More aggressive than Follicular carcinoma. Derived from C cells of the thyroid.
• Anaplastic thyroid cancer: Very rare and extremely aggressive. Prognosis is the worst.