Symptoms of Thyroid Cancer - What are They?

While the prevalence of different cancers change from year to year, thyroid cancer has been cited as the 5th most common cancer in women and the most common cancer in women in their 20s. Because it is so common, it is important to know what symptoms you should be looking for- so that you can get early treatment.

Before we talk about the symptoms of thyroid cancer, however, we should mention that early treatment is very much associated with a better prognosis. In fact, when your doctor finds the cancer (instead of you going to the doctor because you already have symptoms), your prognosis is better. For that reason, doing a thyroid ultrasound can lead to a better prognosis.

So what are the symptoms of thyroid cancer? In no particular order, they include:

1- voice changes. Because the thyroid lies right on top of the nerve that moves your voice box, voice changes can be one of the first symptoms of thyroid cancer. Fear not, however, for most people these voice changes represent more common problems such as post nasal drainage or reflux. Voice changes caused by thyroid cancer are actually more suggestive of advanced or serious disease, and are therefore usually quite prominent. A little scratchy voice is less likely to be cancer than a significant voice change or hoarseness.

2- difficulty swallowing. As with voice changes, one very concerning symptom of thyroid cancer is difficulty swallowing. The good news is that this symptom is also not very specific, meaning that things other than cancer (such as benign nodules) can also cause difficulty swallowing. The worse the swallowing problem, the larger potential there is for it to be caused by a thyroid cancer.

3- a lump in your neck. This one is probably the most common symptom that leads people to know that they have thyroid cancer. A swelling in the neck of an adult should always be concerning. The job of any doctor once you present with a neck mass is to find out if that mass is a cancer. For young women especially, a neck mass that is caused by cancer is most often a thyroid cancer. That's why neck swelling is a common symptom of thyroid cancer.

4- changes in your thyroid hormone level. Surprisingly, changes in your thyroid hormone levels are rarely a symptom of sign of thyroid cancer. Why not? Because thyroid cancer doesn't usually make thyroid hormone (it's not "functional" thyroid tissue), and the rest of the thyroid usually has the capacity to replace the part of the thyroid that isn't working right. However, it should be noted that people with abnormal function ARE more likely to have thyroid cancer at some point in their life, because both Graves' disease (too much thyroid hormone) and Hashimoto's disease (too little thyroid hormone) both cause cancer over time.

What about things like weight loss, hair loss, changes in your fingernails, fatigue, etc? Can't those all be symptoms of thyroid cancer? Yes, they can, but they are fairly uncommon symptoms of thyroid cancer. Those are all much more likely to be caused by something else other than a thyroid cancer.

Now that you know what the symptoms of thyroid cancer are, make sure to check your neck! That would usually start with thyroid labs, a physical exam, and maybe even a thyroid ultrasound. If you're especially worried, speak with a doctor who has a practice that is focused on thyroid surgery. These doctors are more likely to have experience with your condition and know how to help you best.