What are the obvious symptoms of thyroid tumor recurrence?

Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor of the thyroid gland. It is a common malignant disease in clinical practice. If it is not treated effectively and promptly, it may recur, become more serious, and even take the patient's life. So, what are the symptoms of a recurrence of thyroid tumor?

Less malignant, slow growing

Clinically, the recurrence of thyroid cancer usually manifests as a low degree of malignancy and slow growth. Patients can live with the tumor for several years without any symptoms. Most patients go to the hospital for treatment after accidentally discovering a lump in the front of the neck or enlarged cervical lymph nodes. Some patients are diagnosed with benign thyroid tumors before surgery, and after surgical resection, they are confirmed to be thyroid cancer by pathological examination. Thyroid cancer metastasizes to the cervical lymph nodes in more than 60%, and distant hematogenous metastasis is about 10%.

Postoperative recurrence is related to surgery

Since radiation or chemotherapy are not effective for most thyroid cancers, surgery is still the main treatment for thyroid cancer. Whether thyroid cancer recurs or metastasizes after surgery is significantly related to the scope of surgical resection. According to statistics, the recurrence rate after simple tumor resection is 40% to 60%, the recurrence rate after tumor and affected side thyroid lobectomy is 20% to 30%, and the recurrence rate after combined radical neck surgery is 10% to 20%. In addition, the malignancy of thyroid cancer also determines the recurrence rate. In other words, the higher the malignancy, the greater the possibility of postoperative recurrence or distant metastasis. In addition, recurrence and metastasis are also closely related to the correctness of the initial treatment plan. If the surgical plan is formulated and selected properly, the 10-year survival rate is generally above 90%.

Thyroid cancer relapses after surgery mostly within 5 years

The recurrence site is mostly in the primary tumor or the neck, about 40% occurs in the original surgical site, and 60% occurs in the cervical lymph nodes. Therefore, thyroid cancer patients should pay special attention to whether there is a palpable mass in the original surgical site or the neck.