Thyroid cancer affects three times more women than men

This Thursday (25) is International Thyroid Day. The thyroid is a gland made up of two lobes, the left and the right, connected by an isthmus. Together, they take the shape of a butterfly with open wings, a shield of the letter H.

International Thyroid Day aims to raise awareness of diseases linked to the gland.

Thyroid cancer strikes three times as many women as men between the ages of 25 and 65. The most common types are papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic carcinomas.

The doctor Dr. Suelen Martins, an oncologist at the CEON+ Oncology Center and a researcher at Cepho-FMABC, pointed out that there are an estimated 16,600 new cases of thyroid cancer for the 2023-2025 period. She also said that this is a tumor that affects three times more women than men, with a forecast of 2,500 cases in men and 14,160 in women.

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_{Thyroid cancer affects three times more women than men (Photo: Reproduction/gov.br)}

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She also reported that: “We have some types of thyroid cancer depending on the location, the most common being papillary carcinoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma. 80% of thyroid cancers are papillary carcinomas, also known as papillary carcinomas. They usually grow very slowly and develop in just one lobe of the thyroid gland, but sometimes they can occur in both lobes. Even though their development is slow, papillary carcinomas spread to the lymph nodes in the neck.”

She complements informing that follicular carcinoma or follicular adenoma is much less common than papillary thyroid cancer, corresponding to 10% of thyroid cancers. Follicular carcinoma, unlike papillary carcinoma, usually does not spread to the lymph nodes, but some can spread to other organs, such as the lungs or bones. Other less common tumors are called medullary, anaplastic, lymphoma and sarcoma.

Prevention is very important in order to avoid the disease. Most of the time, most diagnoses are made during routine examinations using ultrasound. Dr. Suelen explains that in this exam it is possible to identify small nodules and often in asymptomatic patients.

In general, the treatment of thyroid cancer is surgical and takes into account the type and severity of the disease. In case the malignant cells have compromised the cervical ganglia, it is necessary to remove them.

Featured Photo: Thyroid cancer is one of the most common in the head and neck region (Photo: Reproduction / Google Images)