"Look for Early Signs of Thyroid Cancer, Experts Urge"
Cases of thyroid cancer are on the rise in the United States, and experts want you to know how people at high risk for the disease can detect it early. According to the American Cancer Society, 54,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2018. And three out of the four of these cases will be women. But anyone can get the disease. “While the majority of thyroid cancers arise without a family history, if you have a family history of thyroid cancer, you should have any new lump or mass in your neck evaluated by your physician,” said Brett Miles, co-chief of the division of head and neck oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System. Also, people with a history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, radiation exposure to the neck, or familial colon polyps are at increased risk, he added. "A good rule of thumb is that swollen lymph nodes or lumps in your neck that do not go away after about three to four weeks should be evaluated,” he added.
— Brett A. Miles, MD, Associate Professor, Otolaryngology, Fellowship Director, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Co-Chief, Division of Head and Neck Oncology, Mount Sinai Health System