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Reducing Your Risk of Thyroid Cancer

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At this time, there are no generally accepted recommendations for reducing your risk of thyroid cancer.

Medullary thyroid cancer often is genetically inherited. If anyone in your family has been diagnosed with medullary or other endocrine cancers or if your family is known to carry a mutation (abnormal change) in the RET gene, you may wish to be tested to see if you have this mutation. Medullary thyroid cancers may be part of syndromes that involve other types of endocrine or other cancers, thus a careful family history for cancer is important.

If you carry the RET gene, you may be advised to have your thyroid removed at a very early age to avoid the very high risk of developing medullary thyroid cancer.

Revision Information

This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

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References

  • Conn’s Current Therapy. 54th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 2002: 652-657.

  • Cooper DS, Doherty GM, Haugen BR et al: The American Thyroid Association Guidelines Taskforce: management guidelines for patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. Thyroid. 2006;16:1-33.

  • Thyroid carcinoma. In: Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 2000: 1247-1250.

  • What is thyroid cancer? American Cancer Society website. Available at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI%5F2%5F3x.asp?dt=43 . Accessed December 10, 2002.

  • What you need to know about cancer of the thyroid. National Cancer Institute website. Available at http://cancer.gov/ . Accessed December 10, 2002.