How Does My Doctor Know I Hav... Health Article

Sometimes doctors will notice signs of thyroid cancer, such as a lump or swelling in the neck, during a routine checkup. If your doctor thinks you have thyroid cancer, he or she will ask you about your symptoms, health history, and family health history. This information helps your doctor determine your risk of thyroid cancer.

In addition to a physical exam, your doctor may perform certain tests to see if you have thyroid cancer. You may need more than one of these tests.

Neck exam. Your doctor will try to feel for any lumps near your thyroid. If your doctor finds a lump, he or she will check the size and firmness. Your doctor will also see if it moves or feels tender to you.

Biopsy. If you have a suspicious lump on your thyroid, your doctor will most likely want you to have a biopsy. During a biopsy, your doctor uses a very fine needle to remove a small piece of tissue from your neck to check it for cancer. This procedure lets your doctor collect thyroid cells and fluid from the lump. Your doctor may first numb your throat area. Afterwards, an expert who looks for changes in cells, called a pathologist, will examine the cells and fluid under a microscope to see if there is any sign of cancer.  

Ultrasound. During this test, your doctor uses sound waves to look for thyroid cancer. The sound waves bounce off your thyroid and send back signals. A computer uses the signals to create an image of your thyroid. The image can reveal the size and location of any thyroid nodules or bumps. However, this test cannot tell you if the bumps are cancer or not.

Blood tests. Your doctor may do a blood test to check certain hormone levels in your body. These levels tell your doctor if your thyroid is working properly. The hormones your doctor may check include thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and calcitonin. Your doctor also may check for a protein called thyroglobulin. The results of these blood tests do not diagnose cancer, but they do give your doctor information on how well your thyroid gland is working.