Surgery is the treatment of choice. A near total or total thyroidectomy is performed on most patients. Patients are given exogenous thyroid hormone to prevent hypothyroidism postoperatively. This treatment is not used in for medullary or anaplastic tumors because they do not concentrate this radioisotope. Side effects of this treatment include inflammation of the salivary glands, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and bone marrow suppression.
Chemotherapy is used mostly for the treatment of advanced thyroid cancer.
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