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• General Information About Thyroid Cancer
• Stages of Thyroid Cancer
• Recurrent Thyroid Cancer
• Treatment Option Overview
• Treatment Options by Stage
• Treatment Options for Recurrent Thyroid Cancer
• To Learn More About Thyroid Cancer

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Treatment Options by Stage

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Stages I and II Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer

Treatment of stage I and II papillary and follicular thyroid cancer may include the following:

• Total or near-total thyroidectomy, with or without radioactive iodine therapy.
• Lobectomy and removal of lymph nodes that contain cancer, followed by hormone therapy. Radioactive iodine therapy may be given following surgery.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage I papillary thyroid cancer, stage I follicular thyroid cancer, stage II papillary thyroid cancer and stage II follicular thyroid cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Stage III Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer

Treatment of stage III papillary and follicular thyroid cancer is usually total thyroidectomy. Cancer that has spread outside the thyroid, as well as any lymph nodes that have cancer in them, will also be removed. Radioactive iodine therapy or external radiation therapy may be given after surgery.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage III papillary thyroid cancer and stage III follicular thyroid cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Stage IV Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer

Treatment of stage IV papillary and follicular thyroid cancer that has spread only to the lymph nodes can often be cured. When cancer has spread to other places in the body, such as the lungs and bone, treatment usually does not cure the cancer, but can relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life. Treatment may include the following:

• Radioactive iodine therapy.
• External-beam radiation therapy.
• Surgery to remove cancer from areas where it has spread.
• Hormone therapy.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of a targeted therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage IV papillary thyroid cancer and stage IV follicular thyroid cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Medullary Thyroid Cancer

Treatment may include the following:

• Total thyroidectomy if the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.
• Removal of lymph nodes that contain cancer.
• External radiation therapy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients whose cancer has recurred in the thyroid.
• Targeted therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
• Chemotherapy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with thyroid gland medullary carcinoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Treatment may include the following:

• Tracheostomy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life.
• Total thyroidectomy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients whose cancer has not spread away from the thyroid.
• External radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of total thyroidectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.