Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MURRAY — A local medical expert says that while thyroid cancer is common, the type that led to the death of LDS leader Elder L. Tom Perry is rare.
"The good thing is that the younger you are with thyroid cancer, it is one of the most curable cancers there is. If you get it when you're older, it's one of the most deadly," said Dr. Robert Hunter, a head and neck oncologist at Intermountain Medical Center. Hunter was part of a medical board that consulted on the care of Elder Perry, an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but was not a part of the church leader's treatment.
Elder Perry died May 30 with anaplastic thyroid cancer, the rarest type. It typically affects people age 65 and older and develops from unknown causes. It is also incurable, Hunter said.
"There is no good treatment," he said, adding that doctors sometimes prescribe radiation to slow down progression of the disease, but surgery to remove it is rare and hardly ever effective.
Many times, such as was the case reported with Elder Perry, the cancer grows so quickly that it spreads to the lungs, trachea and/or blood vessels and prohibits proper eating and breathing.
Life expectancy with anaplastic thyroid cancer, Hunter said, is usually less than one year, with the median life span after diagnosis about three months.
"The goal is to maintain their quality of life, maintain their ability to breathe and maintain proper nutrition," he said.
- Hoarseness when speaking
- Compression of the airway
- Shortness of breath
- Difficulty swallowing
- Mass on throat that can be felt via touch
Symptoms that alert people of thyroid cancer can include hoarseness in their voice, compression of the airway or shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, or discovering a rapidly growing mass in their neck, Hunter said. Most patients either feel a mass themselves or notice it when swallowing, or it is discovered through a routine physical exam or specialized imaging for another purpose.
"As people live longer, the types of cancer they develop are generally more progressive," Hunter said.
For most people with thyroid cancer, the prognosis is good.
Hunter, who has been in the business 23 years, said about 30 percent of the population has protruding nodules on their thyroid glands, but the majority are not malignant, and for those that are, surgery and/or removal of the thyroid often takes care of it.
Thyroid cancer most commonly develops between age 20 and 50 and is most prevalent in young women. The most common type is papillary cancer, which is the most curable type.
A thyroidectomy solves most cases and is almost always followed by an evaluation of lymph nodes and, then, sometimes, a dose of radioactive iodine.
Many thyroid cancer patients end up taking daily thyroid hormone medication and undergo various simple tests and examinations following removal of the gland, but, "otherwise, their life function is normal," Hunter said.
