Thyroid cancer

A few different types of cancer start in the thyroid – a gland just above your collarbones in your neck which produces hormones.

The most common type is called papillary carcinoma, which tends to affect younger people, especially women.

Treatment for thyroid cancer has a high success rate. But it’s still really important to get checked out if you have any symptoms you’re worried about.

Some thyroid cancer symptoms can be:

• a sore throat or hoarse voice that lasts for several weeks, or if swallowing is painful for that amount of time
• if you feel a lump in your neck (and especially in the base of your neck)

If you’ve had radiotherapy to your neck, you’re at a higher risk of getting thyroid cancer. So your radiotherapy doctor will feel your thyroid gland regularly and arrange blood tests and/or ultrasound scans to check everything is OK.

It’s always best to check if you have any of these symptoms, or you notice anything unusual. Remember that thyroid lumps can happen, but most aren’t cancerous. And some of these other symptoms can have other causes too.

Your GP or radiotherapy doctor will take a look at your neck and you’ll have a blood test to see if levels of particular hormones suggest a thyroid problem.

You might then have an ultrasound scan to give doctors a closer look at the lump, if you have one.

And cells might be taken from your thyroid using a needle or in surgery (this is called a biopsy), so they can be examined under a microscope for signs of cancer.

You can find out more in our Getting diagnosed section.

There are a few different treatments for thyroid cancer. Which one you are offered will depend on the type of thyroid cancer you have and what stage it is at. Your doctor will explain your individual situation to you and remember you can ask questions at any point if you don’t understand.  

The first step is usually surgery, with all or part of your thyroid removed, along with any nearby glands that show signs of cancer. 

Radiotherapy – and in particular a treatment called radioiodine – is also used to kill cancerous cells. If you have radioiodine treatment, you’ll need to go into hospital for a few days. You’ll be given an injection of radioactive iodine and will then stay in a special room for a few days until you’re no longer radioactive – this won’t cause any long-term harm. 

Chemotherapy is also sometimes used for advanced thyroid cancers or if cancer comes back after being treated. 

You might be given hormone therapy after your treatment to replace the hormones that the thyroid would normally make. 

Find out more about cancer treatments. 

This page was reviewed in 2024. It will reviewed again in 2027.