Thyroid Cancer
Thyroid Cancer refers to a cancerous growth in the thyroid gland. There are now more than 200,000 patients in the U.S. living with thyroid cancer and incidence has increased by over 20% in the last 5 years.
Thyroid cancer can occur in all age groups. People who have had radiation therapy to the neck are at higher risk, as well as people who received radiation therapy as children.
Other risk factors are a family history of thyroid cancer and chronic goiter.
There are several types of thyroid cancer:
- Papillary carcinoma is the most common thyroid cancer and usually affects women of child-bearing age. It spreads slowly and is the least malignant type of thyroid cancer with a high cure rate of about 90%.
- Follicular carcinoma accounts for about 30% of all cases and has a greater rate of recurrence and metastasis. The thyroid gland is comprised of follicles, which produce thyroid hormones that are essential for growth and development of all body tissues. Follicular cancer does not usually spread to the lymph nodes, but it may spread to arteries and veins of the thyroid gland and more distantly, to lung, bone, and skin. It is more common in older people, and the long-term survival rate is high, if diagnosed in the early stages.
- Medullary thyroid cancer is the third most common type of thyroid cancer, and usually originates in the upper central lobe of the thyroid. It differs from papillary and follicular cancer in that it does not arise from cells that produce thyroid hormone, but instead from C cells. These C cells make the hormone calcitonin. This type of cancer spreads to the lymph nodes earlier than papillary or follicular cancers. It can run in families, and has a good rate of long-term survival, if diagnosed in the early stages.
- Anaplastic carcinoma (also called giant and spindle cell cancer) is the most serious form of thyroid cancer. It is rare, but does not respond to radioiodine therapy. Anaplastic carcinoma spreads early beyond the thyroid and lymph nodes and invades nearby structures such as the trachea. Long-term survival rates for this type of cancer are far less than for the other three thyroid cancers.
Even if standard treatments have reached their limits, patients suffering from any type of thyroid cancer have treatment options.*
At the Issels Medical Center we have integrated advanced, research-based alternative/complementary and conventional therapies into a comprehensive immunobiological treatment concept that has a 50 year history.
Treatment
The Treatment Program is a comprehensive strategy for thyroid cancer of all types and stages.*
It is a two-pronged attack and consists of:
- Non-toxic Immunobiological Treatments designed to attack the cancer and at the same time restore the natural mechanisms of regulation, repair and defense.
- Standard Treatments aimed at the removal or reduction of the cancerous cells and tumors, when indicated and possible.
Each treatment program is specifically designed to meet the individual patient's needs and consists of components that complement one another.
>>> For ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on Treatment and Costs please click here or call 1.888.374.7735
Rationale
In patients suffering from thyroid cancer, as in all cancer patients, the body's regulatory, repair and immune mechanisms fail to prevent formation of a cancerous tumor. This failure is called by some researchers a "regulatory freeze" or "tolerance," which is due to a combination of causal factors that vary from one individual patient to the other.
The comprehensive immunobiological treatment offered at the Issels Medical Center aims to break through the "regulatory freeze". It is a unique blend of treatment modalities that complement and enhance one another in an effort to attack the cancer and at the same time restore the body's regulatory, repair and immune systems.
Evidence is growing that in addition to genetic disposition, chronic goiter, nutritional imbalances, hormonal and psychological factors, environmental challenges and other immune suppressive factors increase the risk of thyroid cancer.
The criteria of diagnosing and staging are the same for every patient suffering from a specific type of cancer. However, even if the histological diagnosis shows the same type of cancerous cell and the staging shows the same state of progression, every patient has his/her own individual cancer as a result from many different combinations of causal factors ranging from inherited constitution and disposition to adapted lifestyle.
Findings of modern research indicate that it is not only the type of cancerous cells that determines the course of the disease, but also the extra-cellular matrix, the medium on which these cells grow, i.e. the internal bodily environment, and the power of the natural defenses against cancer.
Cancer cells develop in every human being, in fact in every vertebrate organism, according to L. Thomas and other researchers. However, not every newly produced cancer cell leads to a tumor, as the body possesses a natural defense system, an immune surveillance according to M. Burnet. An intact immune system and intact regulation of physiological cell death, called apoptosis, protect the organism from the development of a cancerous tumor. Therefore, it is of great importance to restore the natural regulatory, repair and immune mechanisms, as a part of the healing strategy, or as prevention from the outbreak or progression of the disease.
Statistical studies show that the incidence of recurrent cancer can be reduced considerably, if the patient takes action to strengthen the immune system instead of wasting precious time by passively waiting for the next test results.
Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, although having made great strides in their ability to eradicate cancer cells and tumors, are merely aimed at the malignancy and ignore, and sometimes aggravate, the underlying condition, which led to the formation of the tumor in the first place.
Unless the preconditions for the growth of cancerous tumors are corrected, the high risk of disease progression and recurrence remains.
* DISCLAIMER: The extent of the response to treatment varies from patient to patient, even with similar diagnosis as the internal bodily environment is unique to each individual patient.
>>> For ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on Treatment and Costs please click here or call 1.888.374.7735