The symptoms of thyroid cancer may not be visible in the early stage. With time, however, the following symptoms may occu

• A persistent lump or nodule in the neck
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Pain in the neck, ear or throat
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
• Change in voice Difficulty breathing
• Persistent cough without cold

The common causes include:

• Gender: Women are more prone than men
• Family history
• Iodine deficiency
• Other health conditions

Depending on the patient's condition, oral cancers are treated with a multimodal approach. A combination of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, or targeted therapy will be planned according to the tumor size and growth.

Chemotherapy: Anti-cancer drugs will be administered to the patient to kill cancer cells. This will either be administered before or after the surgery or as a part of palliative care.

Thyroid hormone therapy: A hormone replacement therapy will also be started. In this therapy, the doctor will administer synthetic thyroid hormones to maintain the level of hormones in the body.

Surgery: The tumor cell and surrounding healthy tissue will be removed by surgery. The surgery may remove cancer affected lobe of the gland (Lobectomy), both lobes of the gland (Near-total thyroidectomy), or the complete gland (total thyroidectomy).

Radiation therapy: During this procedure, the cancerous cells will be killed with high-intensity radiation beams. Sometimes, radiation therapy is performed to kill what would have remained after the surgery.

The initial symptoms of throat cancer may not be apparent. The symptoms, however, begin to flare up gradually. Hence, any sudden symptom should not be avoided and brought to the physician's at- tention. The common symptoms of throat cancer are

• Throat pain
• Sore throat
• Change in voice
• Lump in the throat
• Difficulty swallowing
• Persistent cough without cold
• Blood in the cough
• Difficulty speaking
• Difficulty breathing
• Pain in the ear
• Abrupt weight loss