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Newly diagnosed with thyroid cancer and have 2 main concerns
Thyroid Cancer | Last Active: Oct 24, 2023 | Replies (140)Comment receiving replies
I have done some research on RFA and here is what I have learnt -
* RFA is being offered in South Korea, Germany for not just benign nodules but even high-risk carcinomas and has been pretty successful. It saves your thyroid.
* The US is a little behind other countries with RFA. The doctors here are not trained adequately (probably the main reason why doctors are not suggesting it to us yet), and due to COVID many training programs had to be halted worldwide.
* It looks like in the next couple of years, RFA might be a pretty standard option in the US for benign thyroid nodules definitely but even for cancerous tumors.
* Some doctors in the US are treating thyroid carcinomas in the 1cm range with RFA successfully.
In my case, the surgeon has recommended surgery and says RFA is not a viable option due to the size and location of the carcinoma. 🙁
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I had a large nodule. When I went to be evaluated to see if I was a candidate for RFA, the doctor did a fine needle biopsy and sent a slide for Affirma testing. The results showed that I had a 50% chance that I had Hurthle Cell Carcinoma. The doctor said I was not able to have RFA because the cells could migrate out as the needle is withdrawn snd if this was cancer it could cause it to spread.
Since it’s a new procedure for the thyroid, it might just be that the doctor did not want any added risks. Since Hurthle cell carcinoma can “ travel” into lymphatic or circulatory systems, I think it’s best not to take this risk, so her decision made sense to me. I think it was good to look into it however my situation just did not qualify.
I had surgery for lobectomy and the results from Affirma testing were confirmed that I had Hurthle Crll Carcinoma.
You mentioned that the RFA is being done successfully in other countries on people with carcinoma, however the longitudinal studies might not have been done yet to see if the cancer cells migrated. I would be cautious with interpreting articles where they say they successfully treated patients with cancer using RFA without longitudinal studies monitoring the long term effects. “Treating successfully” can be about the procedure….it shrank the nodule without removal; but did the cancer go away? Did the person develop cancer outside the thyroid?
I think Radio frequency ablation sounds great for people who are not at high risk of cancer. For low risk thyroid cancer, maybe it would work to ablate cancer cells in the process, but some cancers would appear to be too risky for potential cell migration.
Good luck!