TiRADS 4C... cancer or not??

Hi Raz

We are a UK-based website and TiRADS system of rating is not used here (and from the paper I found about it, it doesn't appear that it's officially adopted in many other countries which makes me suspect that it may not have been used long enough to have solid statistics behind it). Instead we have a U1 to U5 rating. So it's unlikely we can provide you with somebody who has been given exactly the same ranking.

It doesn't really matter how it's done - the Ultrasound is only the first stage of screening and the classifications just determine whether you get a Fine Needle Aspiration follow up or not. So your rating of 4c just means the next step should be to stick a needle in the lump and take some cells. That's what you should push for next.

FNA results have a ranking from T1 to T5. But it's worth knowing that even that test isn't always conclusive and a lot of us end up having so-called diagnostic hemithyroidectomies to find out if the lumps are cancer or not.

I hope you won't mind me saying this but if you have doctor friends who tell you 'the outcome is probably not great' then they're not the type of friends I'd want to be hanging about with - or they really don't know much about thyroid cancers. 

Most thyroid cancers are very treatable and very slow growing and hundreds of people pass through this group every year to move on and have very normal lives afterwards. Many people with Hashimotos will probably say they have a rougher time dealing with their disease than a lot of people do dealing with thyroid cancer. 

That link I gave above says the risk of a 4c being cancer is between 10 and 80% which is the type of statistic you might as well not even know as it's just ridiculously broad. Getting the FNA should narrow things down a bit more.

Hi Barbara!

Thanks for the reply!  I'm waiting for the needle to be stuck in the lump :) But the waiting games sucks... all I know is that it has gone from being cystic to solid... from round to irregular, and from 3mm to 10mm in a year, with vascularity now, just frustrated...  I totally know that dealing with Hashis is a royal pain.  Just wanting this waiting game to hurry up and end. 

Cheers,
R

It's important to keep in perspective that 10 mm is still pretty tiny but you're going to want it sorted sooner rather than later. 

Many of us - probably most of us - didn't have thyroid problems before we got cancer, but from the little I know of Hashimotos, getting rid of your thyroid might be the easiest thing to live with in the long run. I'm a firm believer 'no thyroid, no problem'.

I know this post is old, but any updates? I am from Canada too and am just looking for some comfort. 

Hey there Shyannan,

Welcome to the forum!

What sort of updates are you looking for? Or what is it that's worrying you at the moment? If you feel up to it, it might be better to start a new post with a bit about yourself, what's going on, what's worrying you, etc and we will do our best to help where we can.

Lass

xx