
The AECC brings cancer research closer to the people of Aragon
September 26, 2022
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September 26, 2022This Saturday, September 24, marks the world day of a disease that, according to the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition, affects 4.500 people a year.
Thyroid: "Gland located below the larynx that produces thyroid hormones, which help regulate growth and metabolism." This is the definition given by the Royal Spanish Academy of Language to a small gland that uses iodine as fuel for the proper functioning of the body.
If this is not the case, the thyroid can generate different diseases such as hypothyroidism, caused by the production of a lower amount of thyroid hormones; hyperthyroidism, when there is a hormonal excess that affects all the tissues of the body; multinodular goiter, characterized by the growth of the gland in the form of multiple nodules and thyroid cancer, among other ailments.
It is precisely this September 24 when the International Thyroid Cancer Day, a disease that, according to the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) Its incidence has doubled in the last decade with 4.500 people diagnosed per year.
Symptoms and what differentiates it from other thyroid ailments
In most cases this type of cancer manifests itself with appearance of a lump in the neck, although as specified by Javier Santamaría Sandi, member of the Management Committee of the SEEN Thyroid Knowledge Area, “there are many other processes that can appear in the same way, so you should go to the doctor to distinguish it from other benign processes. , which is the most frequent.”
Other symptoms also related to thyroid cancer are pain in the front of the neck, which sometimes reaches the ears, hoarseness or other changes in the voice that persist, possibility of appearance of swallowing problems or difficulty breathing. Regarding risk factors, SEEN specialists highlight the following:
- Sex and age: it is more common in women between 30 and 50 years old.
- Radiation: Patients who have received radiation therapy to the head or neck are at higher risk than the general population.
- Genetic factors: in medullary carcinoma, there is a familial form that increases the predisposition to suffer from it.
- Diet low in iodine: favors the appearance of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer.
Individualize treatment for a better prognosis
In relation to the challenges of addressing this pathology, endocrinologist Javier Santamaría asserts that it is essential to individualize the treatment of each patient with thyroid cancer. “The vast majority of cases have a good prognosis, so we must avoid interventions that can lead to morbidities, but at the same time, it is necessary to identify those that may evolve poorly in order to be able to apply these new treatments early."
Likewise, the specialist emphasizes that it is essential "convey to patients that it is a common disease, whose prognosis is excellent". "Even in the few cases of poor evolution, there are more and more therapeutic options."
“In recent years, numerous molecules have appeared that can stop the development of tumors with poor evolution, improving the prognosis of these few patients who did not respond to classic treatments,” concludes the endocrinologist.
Source: Heraldo de Aragón