Follicular thyroid cancer is one of the four main types of thyroid cancer. There are more than 62,000 new cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed each year. Here are some things to know about follicular thyroid cancer.
1. Of the four types of thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer is the second most common, affecting about 15 percent of all
thyroid cancer sufferers, according to EndocrineWeb.
2. Follicular carcinoma is slightly more aggressive than papillary thyroid cancer, but still has a relatively high cure rate.
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3. In patients under 45, there are only two stages of follicular thyroid cancer.
4. Stage I occurs when the disease has not spread to other parts of the body, and stage 2 occurs when it has spread,
according to the American Cancer Society.
5. Younger patients rarely die from follicular thyroid cancer even when it spreads to other parts of the body; the survival rate is almost 100 percent.
6. In patients 45 and older, the survival rate for follicular thyroid cancer is still close to 100 percent for stages I and II. The five year survival rate drops to 71 percent for stage three and 50 percent for stage four, based on patients diagnosed in 1998-1999.
7. In older patients' stage I, the cancer is only in the thyroid and the tumor is smaller than 2 centimeters in size.
8. In stage II, cancer is still only in the thyroid and the tumor is between 2 and 4 centimeters in size.
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9. In stage III, several conditions could be present,
according to the Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association. The tumor could be larger than 4 centimeters but confined to the thyroid, any size and have spread to tissues just outside the thyroid but not lymph nodes, or any size and spread to tissues and lymph nodes close to the trachea or the larynx.
10. Stage IV follicular thyroid cancer is divided into three different subcategories.
11. In Stage IVA, the tumor can be any size, with cancer having spread through surrounding tissues, trachea, esophagus, larynx, and/or recurrent laryngeal nerve, and possibly lymph nodes as well. It could also spread to lymph nodes between the lungs.
12. In Stage IVB, cancer has spread to tissue near the spinal column or has enveloped the carotid artery or blood vessels between the lungs, and possibly lymph nodes.
13. In Stage IVC, cancer has spread to other parts of the body like lungs and bones, as well as possibly the lymph nodes.
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