Beijing, August 8 (Zhongxin.com) -- At the 11nd transverse finger of the sternal fossa, an arc-shaped incision leaves a deep or shallow "smile" scar, which is a sign of victory for thyroid cancer patients.
Not long ago, singer Feng Timo posted on Weibo that he suffered from thyroid cancer and had recovered from surgery. She said that through this cancer, I want to say to everyone, especially girls, must not be mentally exhausted, do not accumulate negative energy in the heart.
Screenshot from @von Timo Weibo
On social media, thyroid cancer is one of the cancers discussed. Some netizens called it "the laziest cancer". Relevant data show that the incidence of thyroid cancer in China has increased significantly. The incidence is significantly higher in women than in men. The age of 20 to 40 years is the highest incidence age.
What kind of disease is this? Why do you find young women?
Having thyroid cancer is not so scary
Guo Fu, 28, is a teacher. In June 2023, the unit organized a physical examination, and she was found to have a thyroid nodule, and was later diagnosed with thyroid cancer after puncture.
"This disease is easy to treat, and it will be fine if it is cured." In the face of this disease, Guo Fu showed himself calmly. She said that her parents had thyroid nodules, but they were benign. Half a month later, Guo Fu underwent surgery. She recalls that her entire treatment process was quick and smooth.
Li Tiancheng, professor of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, introduced that thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor that occurs in thyroid follicular cells, although it is called cancer, but it develops particularly slowly, so it is called "the laziest cancer". If the diameter is less than 1 centimeter, it is called microcarcinoma in medicine, and it is currently considered to be curable, and the chance of recurrence after surgery is less than 0.01%.
Unlike Guo Fu, Lu Lingling had an emotional breakdown after her diagnosis. "I'm all confused at the moment" Lu Lingling cried on the spot, she had never heard of thyroid cancer before, and she couldn't accept that she had become one of the patients.
In December 2020, Lu Lingling and her husband got married in Xiamen, and after two years of happy life between the two, Lu Lingling planned to get pregnant. During the preconception examination, she found that her thyroid nodule 12b was discovered, and the doctor recommended that she have a puncture, and then diagnosed the diagnosis.
Doctors say it's a cancer that can be cured. Lu Lingling looked through a lot of information and finally slowly accepted reality.
Combined with years of experience in diagnosis and treatment, Li Tiancheng has his own way of comforting thyroid cancer patients. "I would first tell the patient that the survival rate of this tumor 30 years after healing can reach 90%. If it's a tiny cancer, I'll tell her that there's a good chance it will be cured; If it's an older patient, I will tell her that this tumor will not affect your lifespan after treatment. ”
More and more patients, is it really related to mood?
The thyroid gland is the largest endocrine organ in the human body, which wraps the human trachea at the position of two fingers below the throat, like a butterfly. Its function is to synthesize and secrete thyroxine, which affects the growth and development of the human body, metabolism, nervous system, cardiovascular system, digestive system, etc. If the thyroid gland secretes hormones out of order, a woman's period can also be affected.
After Lu Lingling was diagnosed, she reflected on herself because she was too easily angry. "Every time I get angry, I feel blocked, and when I cry before, I also feel blocked in my throat."
On a social media platform, searching for "thyroid cancer" as a keyword, many thyroid cancer patients shared their own disease experiences and said that anger, anxiety, stress, staying up late, lack of exercise, etc. caused their illness.
But Guo Fu did not have these situations. She has a gentle personality, does not have much work pressure, and eats mostly at home by her mother. Occasionally, I stayed up late and went to sleep after eleven. The only possible factor, she felt, was genetics.
Li Tiancheng introduced that the relatively accurate causes of thyroid cancer are mainly four points: ionizing radiation, family inheritance, gene mutation and systemic family genetic diseases in childhood.
"Staying up late, anxious to get angry, irritability, these may have an impact, but no clear relationship has been found in clinical statistics and epidemiology." He said.
Talking about the gradual increase in the number of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Li Tiancheng believes that this is a relative increase in incidence, not an absolute incidence. Thyroid diseases are usually detected by physical examination, he said, and early thyroid cancers that were previously undetected, especially papillary microcarcinomas smaller than 1 centimeter in diameter, can now be detected.
The surrounding structure is complex, testing the doctor's skills
Thyroid nodules are divided into 5 grades, usually 1~3 grades are basically benign nodules, and ultrasound observation can be done once a year. Grade 4 and above, high-risk patients confirmed by professional diagnosis or pathology, should be treated accordingly as soon as possible.
Lu Lingling struggled for a month before the operation, and she hoped that her operation would not be too painful and the incision would be smaller.
Li Tiancheng told Chinanews.com that many patients will worry about scars, especially some people with scar physique, on the one hand, because of the impact on aesthetics, on the other hand, they want to protect privacy and prevent others from knowing the history of surgery.
The doctor will try to make the incision as small as possible. In the past, surgery was done by making an incision from the areola and removing the tumor with endoscopic assistance. But this incision is far away, which invisibly adds an additional trauma. With advances in medical technology and improvements in equipment, doctors now make incisions primarily from the vestibule of the oral cavity, much closer and less traumatic.
Li Tiancheng will wear a 3.5x magnifying glass during surgery to ensure that he can see the recurrent laryngeal nerve around the thyroid gland clearly. "This nerve is particularly closely related to the thyroid gland and is closely linked. If there is no careful separation during surgery, or if the tumor invades this nerve in the late stage of development, it will lead to abnormal function of this nerve, hoarseness, and more serious bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and dyspnea. ”
Li Tiancheng introduced that the main difficulty of thyroid surgery is that it may damage the surrounding structures, resulting in corresponding complications. For example, there are also four parathyroid glands behind the human thyroid gland, which are used to regulate the body's calcium metabolism. If the damage occurs, there will be a drop in blood calcium, convulsions, arrhythmias, and more serious cases that can be life-threatening. There are also common carotid arteries, esophagus and trachea next to them, which can be damaged if the tumor is too large or the surgery is not delicate enough.
He said that most thyroid cancer patients achieve early treatment through early detection, can be discharged from the hospital two days after surgery, and can work normally and speak. If hoarseness occurs, most people recover within a week to a month.
"I accepted it as a 'cancer of happiness' as a reminder from God." Lu Lingling said. (End)