Treatment for thyroid cancer
The treatment you have for thyroid cancer depends on the stage of the cancer and your general health. Surgery is usually the main treatment.
About treatment for thyroid cancer
The treatment you have for papillary and follicular cancer depends on:
- the stage of the cancer
- the risk of it coming back
- the results of tests on the thyroid cancer cells
- your general health and your preferences.
Your cancer team will talk to you about the aims of your treatment and tell you what your treatment options are. You can make decisions together with your team. This is called shared decision making.
Most people with papillary and follicular thyroid cancers are cured with treatment.
We have separate information about how medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer are treated.
We understand that having treatment can be a difficult time for people. We are here if you need someone to talk to. You can:
- Call the Macmillan Support Line for free on 0808 808 00 00.
- Chat to our cancer information specialists online.
- visit our Online Community thyroid cancer forum to talk to people who have been affected by thyroid cancer, share your experience, and ask an expert your questions.
Surgery for thyroid cancer
Surgery is usually the main treatment for thyroid cancer. Your surgeon may advise you to have:
- all the thyroid removed – this is called a total thyroidectomy
- part of the thyroid removed – this is called a lobectomy or partial thyroidectomy.
Sometimes the surgeon will also remove the lymph nodes and tissue around the thyroid.
If you have all your thyroid removed, you will need to take thyroid hormone replacement therapy. This is to replace the hormones that the thyroid normally makes.
If you only have part of your thyroid removed, your hormone levels will be monitored to see if you need thyroid hormone tablets.
Related pages
Thyroid hormone replacement therapy
Your doctor may advise you to take thyroxine (levothyroxine) tablets. Thyroxine is a type of thyroid hormone (T4). It is given to:
- replace the thyroid hormones you no longer make if the thyroid gland has been removed
- reduce the risk of the cancer coming back after treatment.
You will have regular tests to check your thyroid hormone levels to make sure you are getting the correct dose.
Radioactive iodine (RAI) for thyroid cancer
If you have all your thyroid removed your doctor may suggest you have radioactive iodine after your surgery.
You usually have it as a capsule and may need to stay in hospital for a few days.
The thyroid cells, wherever they are in the body, absorb the radioactive iodine and get a very high dose of radiation. This destroys any remaining thyroid cancer cells and any normal thyroid tissue.
There are certain restrictions you will need to follow while you are in hospital and for a few days after you leave. This is to avoid exposing other people to unnecessary radiation. Your radiotherapy team will explain all this to you.
We have more information about radioactive iodine treatment for thyroid cancer.
External beam radiotherapy for thyroid cancer
Sometimes, external beam radiotherapy is used to treat follicular and papillary thyroid cancer. It might be given if:
- surgery cannot remove all the cancer
- the cancer has come back in that area
- the cancer has spread to another part of the body, such as the bones.
Targeted therapies
Targeted therapies target something in or around the cancer cell that is helping it grow and survive. They might be used if papillary or follicular thyroid cancer:
- has spread to other parts of the body
- stopped responding to radioactive iodine treatment.
- has come back.
The 2 main targeted therapy drugs used to treat follicular or papillary thyroid cancer are:
- lenvatinib (Lenvima®)
- sorafenib ( Nexavar®).
Other targeted therapy drugs may also be used to treat thyroid cancer. They only work if you have a certain gene change (mutation) in the thyroid cancer cells.
If the cancer cells have a change in the RET gene your doctor might talk to you about having a drug called selpercatinib (Retsevmo).
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is not usually used to treat follicular or papillary thyroid cancer. Your doctor may suggest it if your cancer comes back after other treatments.
About our information
This information has been written, revised and edited by Macmillan Cancer Support’s Cancer Information Development team. It has been reviewed by expert medical and health professionals and people living with cancer.
-
References
Below is a sample of the sources used in our thyroid cancer information. If you would like more information about the sources we use, please contact us at
informationproductionteam@macmillan.org.uk
National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE). [NG230]. Thyroid cancer: assessment and management. Published: 19 December 2022. Available from: www.nice.org.uk/guidance
Datta, R. British Medical Journal Best Practice Guidelines, Thyroid cancer. 2023. British Medical Journal. Available from: www.bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/263
European Society Medical Oncology (ESMO): Thyroid cancer, Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-up. 2019. Available from: www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(20)32555-2/fulltext
Date reviewed
Our cancer information meets the PIF TICK quality mark.
This means it is easy to use, up-to-date and based on the latest evidence. Learn more about how we produce our information.
The language we use
We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.
We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:
- use plain English
- explain medical words
- use short sentences
- use illustrations to explain text
- structure the information clearly
- make sure important points are clear.
We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.
You can read more about how we produce our information here.