Who is at Risk for Thyroid Cancer?
Although we do not know exactly what causes these thyroid cancers are more likely to develop in patients who have received x-ray treatments in childhood for enlarged tonsils, enlarged thymus glands, acne –all these practices have been stopped several decades ago- and occasionally for other malignancies such as Hodgkin’s disease. Routine diagnostic x-rays (like chest x-rays, dental x-rays, or thyroid scans) do not cause such thyroid cancer. Papillary Thyroid Cancer A papilla is a nipple-like projection. Papillary cancers have multiple projections giving them a fern or frond-like appearance under the microscope. Tiny areas of papillary cancer can be found in up to 10% of “normal” thyroid glands, when thyroid tissue is carefully examined with a microscope. The more carefully a pathologist looks for these tiny cancers, the more commonly they are found. These microscopic cancers seem to have no clinical importance and are more a curiosity than a disease. In other words, there does not seem
