What is childhood thyroid cancer?
Thyroid cancer in children is a rare cancer that forms in the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the throat near the windpipe (also called the trachea). The thyroid gland has a right lobe and a left lobe that is connected by a thin piece of tissue called the isthmus. Although thyroid cancer can affect children of all ages, it's more common in adolescents and girls. It also occurs more often in White people than in Black people.
Children can also have thyroid nodules. A thyroid nodule is an abnormal growth of thyroid cells in the thyroid. The nodules may be solid or fluid-filled. Thyroid nodules usually don't cause symptoms or need treatment unless they become large enough that it is hard to swallow or breathe. Only one in five thyroid nodules become cancer.
Anatomy of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. The thyroid gland lies at the base of the throat near the trachea. It is shaped like a butterfly, with the right lobe and left lobe connected by a thin piece of tissue called the isthmus. The parathyroid glands are four pea-sized organs found in the neck near the thyroid. The thyroid and parathyroid glands make hormones.
The thyroid uses iodine, a mineral found in some foods and in iodized salt, to help make several hormones. Thyroid hormones:
- control heart rate, body temperature, and how quickly food is changed into energy (metabolism)
- control the amount of calcium in the blood