follicular thyroid carcinoma

Common Signs and Symptoms of Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

Follicular thyroid carcinoma, a rare type of thyroid cancer, can manifest in various ways. While some people may not experience any symptoms at all, others may exhibit the following signs:

• A lump or nodule in the neck: This is often the first sign of follicular thyroid carcinoma, and it's usually discovered during a physical examination by a healthcare provider.
• Neck pain or swelling: As the cancer grows, it can cause discomfort or swelling in the neck area.
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing: In more advanced cases, the tumor can press on nearby structures, leading to breathing difficulties or swallowing problems.
• Loss of voice: Some people may experience a change in their voice due to the tumor's impact on the vocal cords.

Other Possible Symptoms

While not everyone with follicular thyroid carcinoma will exhibit these symptoms, they can include:

• Weight loss: Unintentional weight loss can be a sign of advanced cancer.
• Fatigue: Feeling extremely tired or weak may indicate that the cancer is affecting overall health.
• Coughing or hoarseness: These symptoms can occur if the tumor is pressing on nearby structures.

Early Detection and Treatment

It's essential to note that follicular thyroid carcinoma often doesn't cause noticeable symptoms in its early stages. Regular check-ups with a healthcare provider, especially for those over 50, can help detect this cancer before it progresses.

References:

• [1] Follicular thyroid cancer usually affects people older than 50 (Source: #2)
• [2-5] A lump or nodule in the neck, neck pain or swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, loss of voice, and other symptoms can be signs of follicular thyroid carcinoma (Sources: #2, #3, #4, #5, #10)
• [6] Follicular thyroid cancer can cause a range of symptoms, including weight loss, fatigue, coughing, or hoarseness (Source: #13)

Diagnostic Tests for Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is a type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland. Diagnosing FTC requires a combination of physical examination, imaging tests, and laboratory tests. Here are some of the diagnostic tests used to diagnose FTC:

• Physical Examination: A healthcare provider will examine the neck to feel for any changes in the thyroid gland, such as lumps or nodules [7].
• Ultrasound: This imaging test uses sound waves to create detailed pictures of the thyroid gland and surrounding structures. It helps assess the size, composition, and vascularity of the nodule [10][11].
• Thyroid Function Tests: Blood tests are used to measure levels of thyroid hormones, such as TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) [8].
• Fine-needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB): This is considered the best first-line diagnostic procedure for a thyroid nodule. It involves using a thin needle to collect cells from the nodule for examination under a microscope [5][13].
• Imaging Tests: Additional scans, such as whole-body radioiodine scan, may be used to look for possible cancer spread throughout the body [1].

These tests help evaluate the size, location, and characteristics of the tumor, as well as determine the extent of the cancer's spread. A diagnosis of FTC is made based on a combination of these test results.

References:

[1] Context result 1 [5] Context result 5 [7] Context result 7 [8] Context result 8 [10] Context result 10 [11] Context result 11 [13] Context result 13

Differential Diagnosis of Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is a type of cancer that originates from the thyroid gland. The differential diagnosis of FTC involves identifying other conditions or tumors that may have similar characteristics to FTC, making it challenging to diagnose accurately.

Key Differential Diagnoses:

• Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma: This is a subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) that shares similarities with FTC in terms of histological features. However, PTC tends to have more nuclear abnormalities and a higher risk of lymph node metastasis [2].
• Follicular adenoma: A benign tumor that can mimic the appearance of FTC on imaging studies. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is often used to distinguish between follicular adenoma and FTC, but there may be overlap in cytological features [11].
• Poorly differentiated carcinoma: This type of cancer has characteristics intermediate between FTC and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. It can be challenging to differentiate from FTC based on histopathology alone [6].

Other Considerations:

• Iodine deficiency and endemic goiter: Areas with iodine deficiency have been associated with an increased risk of FTC. This may be due to the higher incidence of follicular adenomas in these regions, which can sometimes progress to FTC [3].
• Thyroid nodules: The differential diagnosis for a thyroid nodule that is suspicious for FTC includes other benign and malignant conditions such as follicular adenoma, adenomatous hyperplasia, and papillary thyroid carcinoma [4].

Clinical Implications:

A prompt and thorough evaluation is necessary when symptoms such as change in voice, swallowing difficulties, breathing problems, or pain are present. These symptoms can indicate a more serious diagnosis of FTC.

References:

[1] Etoh M, et al. Diagnosis of thyroid follicular carcinoma by the vascular pattern and velocimetric parameters using high resolution pulsed and power Doppler ultrasonography. Endocr J. 2005 Apr; [Context: 1]

[2] Santacroce L, et al. Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma Differential Diagnoses. Updated: Aug 14, 2024 [Context: 2]

[3] Goyal N, et al. An increased risk of follicular thyroid cancer has been reported in areas of iodine deficiency and in areas of endemic goiter [12, 13]. [Context: 10]

[4] Thyroid nodules showing follicular morphologic features include adenomatous nodule, follicular adenoma (FA), follicular carcinoma (FC), and follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC) []. [Context: 11]

[5] The diagnosis of "follicular neoplasm" (FN) in thyroid cytopathology has a long history that originated not long after the practice of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules. From the outset, this interpretive category was intended to convey a set of differential diagnoses rather than a pre … [Context: 12]

[6] Deep learning systems (DLSs) have been developed for the histopathological assessment of various types of tumors, but none are suitable for differential diagnosis between follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and follicular adenoma (FA). Furthermore, whether DLSs can identify the malignant characterist … [Context: 13]

[7] by S Nojima · 2023 · Cited by 6 — In this study, we developed DLSs able to differentiate between FTC and FA based on 3 types of convolutional neural network architecture: EfficientNet, VGG16, … [Context: 14]