Thyroid Cancer
Chemotherapy is an uncommon method of effectively curing thyroid cancer. Almost 97% of patients with thyroid cancer have follicular or papillary carcinomas, which are typically curable with radioactive iodine therapy. The remaining 3% of thyroid cancer cases are difficult to treat anaplastic or medullary carcinomas. Chemotherapy is an option for patients with recurrent medullary carcinoma who have undergone the standard surgical treatment of total thyroid ectomy. Frequently extensive at the time of diagnosis anaplastic carcinomas necessitate more frequent treatment options, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy. After receiving chemotherapy, a patient with thyroid cancer has a 98% chance of survival. While the longevity rate for stage 3 thyroid cancer patients is nearly 100 percent, the survival rate for stage 4 thyroid cancer patients is 71 percent.
