thyroid is an important part of our body, mainly used to secrete thyroxine, and its shape is like a butterfly and is distributed on both sides of our trachea. The thyroid gland is also a sensitive part, and it will also degenerate or become inflammation. In this case, thyroid nodules may appear.
We are still familiar with thyroid nodules. During normal physical examinations, many people will have them. This nodule may be single or multiple. At this time, someone asked: Are thyroid nodules malignant or benign? Will it become cancerous? And if it is cancerous, how likely is it?
Will thyroid nodules become cancerous?
thyroid nodules are mostly benign and generally do not require surgical treatment. We just need to do regular physical examinations to observe whether the nodules have changed. Thyroid nodules are usually divided into four categories, let’s learn more about them.
The first category is inflammatory nodules. This type of nodules will generally disappear on its own as the inflammation improves. Don’t worry too much;
The second category is hyperplastic nodules, which are mostly benign;
The third category is cysts, which are mostly benign nodules;
The last category is tumour nodules, which are benign and malignant for this type of nodules.
Generally speaking, the possibility of single thyroid nodules is higher than that of multiple nodules, but the incidence of single nodules is also relatively low, so we should not worry too much.
So, how likely is the thyroid nodule to become cancerous? Doctor: More than 4 cm may require treatment
Generally speaking, thyroid nodules will not become cancerous, but there is also a possibility of malignant change. Generally, the chance of malignant change is about 5%, that is, among the 100 patients with thyroid nodules, 5 people will undergo malignant change.
We do not need treatment for those benign nodules, but if the nodules are relatively large and are prone to occur, and other discomforts such as compression symptoms are also present, we need treatment. Under normal circumstances, we will use 4 cm as a critical point, which is less than 4 cm. We can not deal with it first and do regular physical examinations, but if it exceeds 4 cm, treatment may be required. In addition, it depends on whether the patient has symptoms of compression.
Finally, how can we reduce the risk of cancer?
First, We should not be angry often, especially sulking. The occurrence of thyroid nodules and even thyroid cancer is closely related to stress and frequent anger, because anger will destroy your own immune system and cause problems in the regulation of the immune system, which will lead to abnormal thyroid function and finally nodules, etc., and the possibility of cancer will also increase.
Second, do not supplement estrogen. Estrogen is also very important for women, but we must not supplement it indiscriminately, which may lead to the appearance of thyroid nodules. I don’t know if you have discovered that the incidence of thyroid nodules is higher in women than men. This may be related to female estrogen, especially women between the ages of 30 and 45, which are more likely to appear. Therefore, if we want to prevent the malignant changes in thyroid nodules, we cannot supplement estrogen.
To sum up, thyroid nodules are a common disease. We should not worry too much. Just have regular physical examinations and pay attention to the above two points, which can reduce the risk of malignant transformation of thyroid nodules.
