Metastasis to thyroid?

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Laural136669
Laural136669 Member Posts: 287
edited June 2017 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

I had a PET scan yesterday and today my primary care physician called to order a thyroid ultrasound due to increased uptake in thyroid. I see my oncologist Thursday to further discuss the scan. Has anyone had experience with metastasis to the thyroid?

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  • Heidihill
    Heidihill Member Posts: 5,476
    edited July 2012

    I just got back from my ultrasound ordered for the same reason. The doctor said it hadn't changed from the last time when they did a fine needle aspiration for biopsy tissue. It was benign then so he didn't feel the need to biopsy this time. I got myself psyched up for nothing. But I was happy! Hope your US and/or biopsy are benign too!

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  • pupmom
    pupmom Member Posts: 5,068
    edited July 2012

    My first CT found some nodules on my thyroid. Follow-up showed the same nodules. MO said they were benign but could turn malignant (not bc related). Anyway, I am seeing an Endocrinologist now who will follow-up on these nodules indefinitely.

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  • wpolischuk
    wpolischuk Member Posts: 7
    edited August 2012

    Man we really do suffer from the same type of things.

    I had a CT scan of my chest and they found two nodules on my thyroid. I need ultrasound blah blah blah....

    So I know how you ladies feel....

    We need to keep on keepin on....

    Wendy  

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited August 2012

    I've had thyroid nodules since my mid-twenties, and in fact, they removed half my thyroid back then to see if it was malignant (fortunately, not). Every scan I've had for my breast cancer has mentioned the still apparent uptake in the remaining thyroid which has grown over the years. Still not malignant.

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  • Mzmerz
    Mzmerz Member Posts: 1,054
    edited August 2012

    When I had my "routine" scan that found the mets in my iliac crest, there was uptake on my thyroid, but after several imaging tests, they determined it was my thyroid gasping its last breath and fizzled out.  As explained by my thyroid doctor, when it has some kind of "trauma" it can light up on the PET.  I basically live in 275 mcg of Levothyroxine and I feel like it does nothing. Hopefully, it's nothing.  Good luck.

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  • calamtykel
    calamtykel Member Posts: 1,187
    edited August 2012

    Don't know if this means anything, but after I had chemo, I found a lump at my collarbone that was moveable.  I had an ultrasound and when they did, they ultrasounded my thryoid (that was weird..)    The thing on my collarbone was just a benign reactive node (it was removed surgically) but my breast surgeon pointed out that some things were found on my thyroid but that "we all have them) - I can't remember what she said they were, and that I should consider following up in the future.   I haven't yet but just wanted to let you know that maybe lots of us have "stuff" on our thyroids.

    I hope that yours turns out to be nothing! 

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  • Laural136669
    Laural136669 Member Posts: 287
    edited September 2012

    Praises that the 6 biopsies they took from my thyroid were all benign. Now it's just monitoring every 6 months to watch the nodules' growth as they are getting large. May still need surgery eventually but no cancer. Even my blood cancer has been quiet since the chemo for the breast cancer. It is nice to be at a healthy juncture for the first time in awhile.

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  • mrsnjband
    mrsnjband Member Posts: 1,409
    edited September 2012

    I was told that it isn't uncommon to have this happen.  I had a ultra-sound of my thyroid & the specialist said he thought everything looked fine but would do a biopsy if my MO thought it was necessary.  Never had it done & it has been almost 5 years with no problems.

    Glad you hear your results were benign! NJ

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    Bump.


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  • illimae
    illimae Member Posts: 5,710
    edited June 2017

    I was told I have inflammation and a thyroid nodule, an US was done and considered ok but it's being watched. I've read that breast cancer rarely metastasizes to the thyroid but it would seem that some tyhroid issues are common with BC.

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    I was told yesterday that breast cancer does not metastisize to the thyroid. This by a thyroid cancer specialist. I would like to find the info to send to my oncologist

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  • avmom
    avmom Member Posts: 324
    edited June 2017

    I had a thyroid ultrasound and biopsy after scans done as part of my staging at diagnosis. The biopsy came back B9, but I will likely be monitored with annual ultrasounds to keep track of the nodules found. I have my 6 month visit with my MO next week, and will likely have an ultrasound scheduled again this year

    My understanding is that lots of people have B9 thyroid nodules, but I have also seen reports of people having both breast and thyroid cancer.

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    Yes it's true you can have breast cancer and thyroid cancer but when they do the pathology do they find breast cancer cells inside the thyroid or is it other types of cancer? Breast cancer cells can be found in the liver bones brain andI think some other places when the breast cancer metastisizes

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  • avmom
    avmom Member Posts: 324
    edited June 2017

    Marjen, the two people I personally know about had two primaries - the thyroid cancer was not mets

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  • avmom
    avmom Member Posts: 324
    edited June 2017

    After breast cancer diagnosis, risk of thyroid cancer goes up

    I found this article at science daily


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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    Oh I just wrote a long note and forgot to submit. Sorry. Thanks for the article it's good. You are smart to watch your nodules. It's been 2years and 3 months since I was dx'd with IDC. They are watching mine too.

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    I decided to post the article. So both thyroid and breast are glands. I wonder what the correlation is with both getting cancer and yet not the same type of cancer?


    Breast cancer survivors are at increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, especially within five years of their breast cancer diagnosis, according to a new analysis of a large national database. The study results will be presented Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego.

    "Recognition of this association between breast and thyroid cancer should prompt vigilant screening for thyroid cancer among breast cancer survivors," said lead investigator Jennifer Hong Kuo, MD, assistant professor of surgery at Columbia University, New York City.

    Breast cancer survivors, whose numbers are increasing, should receive counseling regarding their higher-than-average risk of thyroid cancer, Kuo recommended.

    Until now, Dr. Kuo said, the relationship between breast and thyroid cancer has been controversial, largely based on single-institution studies that have suggested a possible increase in thyroid cancer incidence after breast cancer.

    The researchers used the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 9, or SEER 9, database to identify the number of individuals with a diagnosis of breast and/or thyroid cancer between 1973 and 2011. They found 704,402 patients with only breast cancer, 49,663 patients with only thyroid cancer and 1,526 patients who developed thyroid cancer after breast cancer.

    Compared with patients with breast cancer alone, women who had breast cancer followed by thyroid cancer were younger on average when diagnosed with their breast cancer. They also were more likely to have had invasive ductal carcinoma (the most common type of breast cancer), a smaller focus of cancer, and to have received radiation therapy as part of their breast cancer treatment.

    There was no difference in risk based on whether the breast cancer was hormone receptor positive or had spread to lymph nodes, according to the investigators.

    Compared with patients who had only thyroid cancer, breast cancer survivors who developed thyroid cancer were more likely to have a more aggressive type of thyroid cancer, but the cancers were smaller in size and fewer patients required additional radioactive iodine treatment. Because thyroid cancer tends to occur at younger ages than breast cancer does, breast cancer survivors who then developed thyroid cancer were older on average than those with only thyroid cancer: 62 versus 45 years, respectively, Dr. Kuo reported.

    The study findings showed that breast cancer survivors developed thyroid cancer at a median of five years. Therefore, Dr. Kuo recommended that every year for the first five years after a breast cancer diagnosis, especially survivors who received radiation therapy should undergo a dedicated thyroid exam.

    Dr. Kuo said she plans to study whether tamoxifen treatment, typically given for five years after a breast cancer diagnosis, may play a role in increasing the risk of thyroid cancer.

    Radiation therapy to the head, neck or chest is a known risk factor for thyroid cancer, according to the Endocrine Society's Hormone Health Network. Female sex raises the risk of both thyroid and breast cancer. The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing, and Dr. Kuo said researchers must have a better understanding of the etiology for this increase.

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  • pboi
    pboi Member Posts: 663
    edited June 2017

    I have had both breast and thyroid cancer. 4 months after my breast cancer diagnosis while undergoing chemo,I had a PET scan, and nodules were found in my thyroid. Biopsy confirmed thyroid cancer. Post chemo and radiation for my breast cancer, I had a thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine treatment for my thyroid cancer. I was told they were two primary cancers and unrelated, but since that time have seen some articles like the above suggesting a connection.

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    pboi did they tell you about the thyroid risks before radiation. I remember asking and they said it wouldn't hit my thyroid. I asked the specialist why no sheild and he said there was no scatter. I am still worried. I'm sorry it happened to you

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3903058/

    Hypothyroidism Resulting From Radiation

    Thyroid iatrogenic sequelae can occur after the treatment of cancers, most notably pediatric malignancies. A late side effect of curative radiotherapy in the head and neck region is hypothyroidism. The pathophysiology of radiation-induced thyroid damage is multifactorial. Radiation inhibits follicular epithelial function and progressively alters the endothelium, resulting in cell degeneration and necrosis, follicular disruption and vascular degeneration and thrombosis, acute and chronic inflammation, fibrous organization, and partial epithelial regeneration [34, 35]. The cytotoxic β radiation released during iodine 131 isotopic decay directly damages the thyrocytes and small thyroid vessels and leads to atherosclerosis in larger vessels. Even though radiotherapy can result in several thyroid dysfunctions, primary hypothyroidism is the most common, occurring an average of 2–7 years after treatment, in a dose-dependent manner [16, 36, 37]. Several studies have demonstrated that the risk is proportionate to the dose of radiation, with neck, mantle, C2–T2 spine, brain stem, Waldeyer's ring and neck, supraclavicular and nasopharyngeal regions, and total body irradiation carrying the highest risk [38–42]. The development of hypothyroidism in older breast cancer survivors is fairly common because a portion of the thyroid gland can be included in the treatment field; however, supraclavicular irradiation does not amplify risks. The incidence of hypothyroidism is as high as 30%–50% in patients treated with radiation for a head and neck malignancy or Hodgkin's disease [40, 41, 43, 44].

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  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited June 2017

    My thyroid function abruptly tanked right after rads. I'm convinced the extensive radiation, perhaps in conjunction with chemo, caused it.

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC39030...

    Hypothyroidism After a Cancer Diagnosis: Etiology, Diagnosis, Complications, and Management

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  • TB90
    TB90 Member Posts: 992
    edited June 2017

    I too have thyroid nodules but they were discovered a few years before I had radiation. My endocrinologist is very diligent in monitoring them. Started out every six months, then nine months and now I see him every year. They are not changing, so thus he seems less concerned. But he has been very reassuring that if there ever is a problem, thyroid cancer detected early, is very treatable. He was far more worried about the breast cancer for me. Research does show that thyroid nodules are very common. He did mention that he will continue to monitor due to the fact that I had radiation. I am glad . .. besides, he is very easy to look at.

    SillyHeart

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited June 2017

    TB90 thanks for the good news! I like the easy to look at part too.

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  • pboi
    pboi Member Posts: 663
    edited June 2017

    marijen...i was diagnosed with my thyroid cancer prior to radiation for breast cancer i had my thyroidectomy about a week after chemo was completed and one week after that began radiation. my radiologist was aware of my thyroid cancer surgery and a shield was used in the area where my thyroid was

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