Thyroid cancer - must the thyroid be removed

Hi Sam11

Thanks for getting in touch.

My name is Paula and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I can imagine how difficult it is for you and understand your concerns. It’s natural to feel this way.

Treatment for thyroid cancer is normally surgery which can be a partial or a total thyroidectomy depending on the cancer stage. Staging can be complicated but it helps your team to plan the best treatment for you.  

As your nodule has grown over the past year and is greater than 4cm the standard recommendations are that it should be surgically removed. Monitoring the thyroid at this stage is not recommended if a cancer diagnosis is confirmed and is only considered for people who have a small nodule less than 1cm in size.

It may be worth talking to your team again about your concerns as they are in an ideal position to discuss this further with you. It also helps you to cope and make decisions about your care. We would suggest making a list of questions to ask before you see your team. You might find this link useful to look at

I can see you haven’t joined any forums yet. You may find our Thyroid Cancer Forum useful to look at. Some people find it helpful talking through their concerns with others. We also offer psychological support via our BUPA partnership.  

The Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust is another website you might find helpful to look at.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch by email, webchat or phone. The Macmillan Support Line offers practical, clinical, financial and emotional support. You can call us free from landlines and from most mobile phone networks* on 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week, 8am – 8pm.

I hope this information is helpful.

Best wishes,

Ref: PW/PH

HI Paula,

Thanks for the reply.  I think there's been a miscommunication. My tumour isn't larger than 4cm. It's roughly 6mm x 6mm.  

All the best,

Sam

Hi Sam11

Welcome to the Online Community here at Macmillan. I hope you find it a helpful place to access support and ask questions. My name is Vanessa, and I am one of the cancer information nurses here at the Macmillan Cancer Support Line.

Thank you for highlighting the size of your tumour.

Surgery is the main treatment for thyroid cancer but I can see you are worried about this.

Here at the Macmillan Support Line, we can give general advice and support. We are independent from the NHS and don’t have access to medical records. We can’t therefore give personalized information and cannot say if monitoring your cancer rather than surgery would be appropriate.  

I can see my colleague, Paula, suggested that you have further discussions with your treatment team. If you haven’t already done so it’s worth contacting your allocated nurse specialist or your Consultant’s secretary to explain your concerns.

As part of ensuring that you understand the proposed procedure and can give informed consent your team will want to ensure you have all the information you need.

You can refuse to consent to the suggested treatment, but it’s important that you ask your team the implications of doing so.

I hope you find this information helpful. You can also always call one of our nurses directly if you want to talk over your concerns or require any further support.

Take care

Vanessa G, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

Ref VG/SS