Recurrent Thyroid Cancer - How Do We Know? What Do We Do?

In this thyroid cancer video, Dr. Clayman discusses the importance of choosing your surgeon and ultrasonographer to ensure your thyroid cancer is cured with your first surgery – and does not reappear years later. The importance of an experienced, knowledgeable thyroid cancer surgeon is key to curing you. As discussed in earlier videos in this thyroid cancer series, the knowledge of how thyroid cancer behaves and the observations of the thyroid cancer surgeon during surgery are critical to properly removing not just the thyroid, but potential involved lymph nodes that could contain cancer. Recurrence of thyroid cancer in the neck is usually not recurrence at all. Instead it is cancer that was present during the first operation that was not removed by the first surgeon and over time it grows and is detected. It is also possible that this “recurrent” thyroid cancer was present prior to the first cancer operation but was not detected by ultrasound or other scans. It is important to have an expert thyroid cancer evaluation done, which involves a high definition ultrasound and a CAT scan to determine the extent of the thyroid cancer for its complete removal. If this did not happen with your first operation you want the most experienced, expert surgeon for your next surgery. Do not make the same decisions again which brought you to have recurrent or persistent thyroid cancer.