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Thyroid Cancer

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Advanced Practice in Endocrinology Nursing

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Abstract

Thyroid cancer is rare and accounts for less than 1% of all cancers, but represents the most common endocrine malignancy. Incidence rates have increased in the past decade in most countries. This is mainly due to an increased use of imaging and subsequent incidental detection of thyroid cancers, but other unidentified factors may also contribute.

The natural history of thyroid cancer, its management and its long-term prognosis are very different to most other solid cancers and therefore warrant specialist support.

The last decade has seen a shift in the management of thyroid cancer with a tendency for less aggressive treatments for the more indolent types and a focus on a more personalised approach to decision-making and management.

The following chapter describes the various types of thyroid cancer, their current management protocols and some developments into future treatments.

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Abbreviations

ATC:

Anaplastic thyroid cancer

CT:

Computed tomography

DTC:

Differentiated thyroid cancer

FNA:

Fine needle aspiration

FTC:

Follicular thyroid caner

LN:

Lymph node

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

MTC:

Medullary thyroid cancer

PET:

Positron emission tomography

PTC:

Papillary thyroid cancer

RAI:

Radioactive iodine

RLN:

Recurrent laryngeal nerve

Tg:

Thyroglobulin

TgAbs:

Thyroglobulin antibodies

TKI:

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors

US:

Ultrasound scan

VC:

Vocal cords

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Velindre NHS Trust, Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff, UK

    Ingrid Haupt-Schott

  2. Macmillan Support Line, Macmillan Cancer Support, Glasgow, UK

    Geraldine Hamilton

  3. Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Petros Perros

Authors
  1. Ingrid Haupt-Schott
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  2. Geraldine Hamilton
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  3. Petros Perros
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ingrid Haupt-Schott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, UK

    Sofia Llahana

  2. Department of Oncology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    Cecilia Follin

  3. Northwest Pituitary Center Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA

    Christine Yedinak

  4. Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Ashley Grossman

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Haupt-Schott, I., Hamilton, G., Perros, P. (2019). Thyroid Cancer. In: Llahana, S., Follin, C., Yedinak, C., Grossman, A. (eds) Advanced Practice in Endocrinology Nursing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99817-6_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99817-6_29

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