THYROID
CANCER PREVENTION – IS IT FEASIBLE?
In most
patients, thyroid cancer is no associated with known risk factors, and so it is
impossible to apply preventive measures.
Radiation
exposure, mainly during childhood, is a very well-known risk factor for the development
of thyroid cancer. In the past, neck irradiation was used for the treatment of
even benign diseases in children; this therapeutic approach has been replaced
by other treatment methods because of the associated high risk for cancer development
(including thyroid cancer). For the same reason, unnecessary radiation expose (especially
in children) during diagnostic investigation (mainly using computed tomography)
should be avoided.
In the
presence of a family history of medullary thyroid cancer, genetic testing for
this disease is indicated in the other family members. Prophylactic
thyroidectomy in children who carry the abnormal (mutated) gene is a highly
effective surgical strategy regarding prevention of a potentially lethal
thyroid malignancy (proposed age for prophylactic thyroidectomy depends on the type
of mutation detected).
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