In Shenzhen
Recently, a family has staged a "faulty" story due to thyroid cancer
Aunt Zhang, 49 years old this year, found that during the physical examination in the past 4 years, there was a small "nodule" that had been lying on her neck. Her usual spirit was simply excellent.
But during a recent physical examination, the doctor found that her nodule "does not look very good" and suggested further examination.
She didn't think much about it, and went with her physical examination and color ultrasound.
After reading it, Wang Yuanyang, the chief physician, felt it was suspicious, so he gave his elder sister a "fine needle puncture" -
This is the current gold standard for preoperative diagnosis in the international and domestic thyroid fields.
is used to identify whether thyroid nodules are malignant or benign.
Although most nodules can be initially judged during B-ultrasound examination, a small number of them are "suspected nodules".
It is difficult to determine whether it is "good" or "bad" based on color ultrasound alone.
and fine needle puncture can detect whether there are cancer cells and gene mutations by extracting cells in the nodules, thereby achieving more accurate diagnosis than B-ultrasound.
"If the puncture result is benign, we will recommend that the patient review the color ultrasound every 6 months to track the changes in morphology;
If it is malignant, it is equivalent to when we already know the diagnosis of ather cancer before the operation, we can directly perform radical surgery in the form of ather cancer during the operation, and greatly shorten the waiting time for frozen pathology. The frozen test has become a double insurance to confirm cytology during the operation, which can shorten the operation time by at least 30 minutes.
The nodule with a benign result also saves the patient from the injustice of being hit by one more knife and avoids excessive treatment."
——Shenzhen People's Hospital Breast Surgeon Wang Yuanyang
That day, Aunt Zhang lay on the bed and took deep breaths to relax.
Because you need to stab the needle into your neck, you can't help but feel a little nervous and scared.
When the doctor told her that she was going to start the injection, she tried to slow down her breathing, leaned her head back, and refused to swallow her saliva, but in less than half a minute, the puncture was completed, just like getting a vaccine, even lighter than that, and it didn't hurt much.
During this process, she also felt that the doctor gave her three injections. She knew that it was not that he was not accurate, but that the result was more accurate.
And the standard operation puncture will not cause cancer cell metastasis (it can be said that the probability is lower than winning the lottery...)
Despite this, looking at the tissue debris on the glass sheet and the gene diluent in the vial, Aunt Zhang still felt an indescribable feeling.
"I just hoped that it would be fine at that time."
Unexpectedly, the next day, it turned out to be vicious, and Aunt Zhang felt that she "the sky fell."
Considering that the high factor that thyroid cancer is the first to bear the brunt of family inheritance, Wang Yuanyang comforted Aunt Zhang and asked her:
"Does anyone in the family have thyroid nodules?"
Aunt Zhang quickly replied:
"My 6 siblings in my family have nodules."
When he heard this, Wang Yuanyang couldn't help frowning, feeling that something must be strange, so he asked Aunt Zhang to mobilize other brothers and sisters to come to the hospital for a detailed examination.
The result was found through re-piercing, and Aunt Zhang's 52-year-old sister and 47-year-old sister were also diagnosed.
This means that half of the 6 siblings are targeted by this disease... Who is so "ruthless" in
? Is it familial thyroid cancer?
Wang Yuanyang consulted some literature and learned that patients with familial non-medicated thyroid cancer will have an increased chance of getting breast and renal cell carcinoma.
Most of them will have the disease alone, and rarely have familial tumor syndrome and
these hidden characteristics make it more difficult to diagnose this disease.
Once confirmed, the risk of illness of parents, children, and siblings will be 4-10 times higher than that of normal people.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Aunt Zhang and her sisters were emotionally broken and frowned all day long.
"I used to think that nodules were not a big deal. After the diagnosis, I never thought that this thyroid cancer might be familial. My sisters and I couldn't believe it at first, and my heart was cut by a knife.
Now I feel that once I was bitten by a snake, I was afraid of straw ropes for ten years, and I just wanted to take good care of my body and the sunshine went to the future."
- Aunt Zhang
My sister once asked the doctor in confusion:
"Why is it our family? Is it so bad luck?"
Doctor could only tell her helplessly that many things were decided when they were "in the womb."
More than one person in the family suffered from cancer, maybe the family genes had mutations.
"In fact, negative anxiety is also a bad stimulus for thyroid cancer. The final pathological results of the 3 sisters also show that among the 3 people, the younger sister has more metastases than the other two sisters."
-Wang Yuanyang
However, the doctor is relatively optimistic about the condition of the 3 sisters.
First of all, compared with the "big" pancreatic cancer in the tumor family, it is not only "slow" in temperament, but also very "lazy".
According to relevant data statistics, the patient's ten-year survival rate is more than 90%.
Moreover, the prognosis is also very considerable, the recurrence rate is less than 3%, and once it recurs, it can also be treated to maintain a considerable life span.
However, the luckiest thing is that familial thyroid cancer is medullary cancer, which is a type with a higher degree of malignancy and is particularly good at "camouflage", so it is easy to be misdiagnosed.
, and the 3 sisters get papillary cancer, which is much less harmful, accounting for about 90% of all thyroid cancers.
But considering the condition of the three sisters, the doctor finally suggested surgical resection. After
, these three sisters did not use chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or iodine 131 treatment. They only need to take thyroxine tablets for life to replace thyroid function.
It has to be said that over the years, thyroid cancer has been constantly "brushing".
and are increasingly "favoring" young people, with the number of patients aged 20-30 showing an upward trend.
Among them, female compatriots are more likely to be infected.
In addition to radioactive damage, family inheritance is currently confirmed to be one of the factors that cause thyroid cancer.
Faced with this situation, many people may be confused about what to do in the future?
don’t panic, there is still a way.
You should know that early prevention, early detection and early treatment are the ultimate secrets to dealing with cancer.
For thyroid cancer, studies have shown that normal thyroid cells develop into cancer cells and there are gene mutations.
In this regard, genetic testing methods can accurately screen out some hereditary thyroid cancers.
can even detect gene mutations before the patient has shown symptoms, so as to save human life through timely intervention.
And the three sisters who were infected in Shenzhen also did one thing-
Their somatic cells have been sent to the Department of Pathology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University for whole-exon gene sequencing.
At that time, if there are suspicious mutant gene loci, other relatives in the family can also find out whether they are likely to get sick as soon as possible, thereby avoiding more tragedies and regrets.
In October 2020, Xiaowen, a 13-year-old girl from Shenzhen, also came to the hospital.
It turns out that since she first entered puberty, she found that she had an "Adam's apple" on her neck. This "bag" is not painful or itchy, but it is just eye-catching, which often makes her unable to raise her head in front of her classmates.
Finally, after a fine needle puncture, the doctor told her that it was thyroid cancer, with special pathological typing and surgery needed as soon as possible.
In life, there are also many people with thyroid nodules, some can be touched, while others hide invisible.
How far are they from cancer?
First of all, you can calm down first. Most nodules are benign and do not require treatment.
However, some benign nodules will develop into malignant, so they also need to be paid attention to.
What does the nodule look like should be paid attention to?
Generally speaking, we can self-test by touching the neck:
Round lump appears on the neck
The lump looks like a suspicious "lump"
Single nodules are swollen and the surface is not smooth
The lump grows rapidly, and it can be significantly larger in more than ten days or one or two months
If the above 4 situations occur, you should go to the hospital in time.
If there is nodule in the physical examination, it is best to go to the hospital for in-depth examination.
It is worth mentioning that there are currently no definite studies that iodized salt increases the risk of thyroid disease.
On the contrary, some expectant mothers who don’t know the truth dare not take iodine, which leads to iodine deficiency and increases the risks of miscarriage and abnormal fetal intellectual development.
Stay up late less, don't worry
Stay away from radiation (not TV or mobile phones)
Emotions should not fluctuate too much
Eat vegetables, eat less greasy and spicy, and exercise more
Check the thyroid function before pregnancy
If there are nodules, remember to check
every six months
Finally, I have to say one more thing, they are all thyroid cancer, but the treatment methods are also different. Some can actively observe, some can undergo ablation surgery, some need surgery, and some even introduce radiotherapy and chemotherapy...
So, once you find abnormalities in your own body, go to a regular hospital for further examination in time to identify it, deal with it, and eliminate it more accurately.
Information: Shenzhen Health Commission, Popular Science China
Editor: Wang Yusi
