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Thyroid Cancer Screening: What is it and why is it so important?

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Dr. Rashmi Roy
Sep 5th, 2023

Thyroid Cancer Screening

The Clayman Thyroid Center and Hospital for Endocrine Surgery in Tampa, Florida are dedicated to making thyroid cancer screening standard practice. Dr. Rashmi Roy, senior thyroid surgeon and director of thyroid surgical services at the Clayman Thyroid Center, is the leader of the thyroid cancer screening program.

The Hospital For Endocrine Surgery has teamed up with partners throughout the community to offer free thyroid cancer screening events.  It is a true thyroid cancer screening program for women with no history of thyroid nodules, masses, goiters, or thyroid cancer.  The results have been astonishing with abnormal findings requiring further evaluation appearing in up to half of participants, and surgery for possible thyroid cancer being recommended in up to 12% of participants. These patients would've otherwise had no idea they had an issue with their thyroid, let alone thyroid cancer without this thyroid cancer screening ultrasound. Learn more about the Thyroid Ultrasound Screening Program.

Why is Thyroid Cancer Screening Important?

Thyroid cancer is the most quickly increasing cancer diagnosis in the United States, and it affects women nearly three times more than men. Despite this, thyroid cancer screening is not performed anywhere in the world. Breast cancer screening, through mammography, and cervical cancer screening through Pap smears has been routine for decades.  However, thyroid cancer screening in the general population does not occur. This is rather astonishing because the majority of thyroid cancer patients do not experience any symptoms and thyroid cancer does not show up in blood work.  In other words, patients can feel completely normal and have normal thyroid labs, and still have thyroid cancer. There is no way to know if you have a thyroid cancer without obtaining an ultrasound to look for it.  For all of these reasons, thyroid cancer screening is so important. 

Hear more about the importance of thyroid screenings.

What is thyroid cancer screening?

Thyroid cancer screening is a simple 2-minute ultrasound of your thyroid gland.  This is a noninvasive technique where a probe is placed on your neck to obtain images of your thyroid gland.  There is no radiation used in ultrasound imaging.  By using a high-resolution ultrasound, thyroid nodules can be identified and thyroid cancer can be detected. With a 2-minute ultrasound, >99% of thyroid cancers can be detected. Certain characteristics of thyroid nodules such as size, borders, calcifications, or blood flow would indicate the need for further evaluation with a biopsy. A thyroid ultrasound is the first step in thyroid cancer screening and is the best way to detect a thyroid cancer early to provide the best cure rate.  Early detection and diagnosis is key, which is why thyroid cancer screening is so important.

Schedule a world-class evaluation of your thyroid nodule.

Who should undergo thyroid cancer screening?

Thyroid cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer in women.  It affects women three times more often than men, and it affects 2% of women worldwide. Therefore, women should undergo thyroid cancer screening rather than men.  Thyroid cancer usually affects women who are 30-55 years old.  Because of this, thyroid cancer screening should occur in women starting at age 30 and continue on an annual basis.  If a suspicious nodule is found on a thyroid cancer screening ultrasound, then an expert evaluation should be obtained.  An expert evaluation includes a full neck ultrasound to look at the thyroid and lymph nodes in your whole neck.  Also, a fine needle aspiration needle biopsy would be performed of the suspicious nodule for a diagnosis. And lastly, discussion of your ultrasound and biopsy results with one of our skilled thyroid surgeons will delineate what your next steps should be.

For more information about thyroid surgery for cancer:

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Author

Dr. Rashmi Roy

Dr. Rashmi Roy is one of the most experienced thyroid surgeons in the U S performing more thyroid surgery and thyroid cancer operations than any other surgeon in the country. She was born and raised in Long Island, NY, and attended Johns Hopkins University where she graduated with honors. She received her medical degree from New York Medical College in 2005, and surgical residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia University Medical Center then returned to Johns Hopkins for her Endocrine Surgery fellowship. From 2011 to 2018, Dr. Roy lead the thyroid surgery program at Penn Medicine – Princeton Medical Center in Princeton, NJ. Dr Roy joined the Clayman Thyroid Center in 2018 as one of the senior surgeons. She is board-certified and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). She is a very active member of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES). Dr. Roy and her husband, Clint have 4 year old son.