Follow Up Follow-up and treatment after you have undergone thyroid surgery for follicular carcinoma is similar to that detailed above under papillary thyroid cancer. If metastatic disease affects the bones, for example the spine, it weakens the bones and can cause a fracture. Depending on the location of the metastases, this can have catastrophic effects. For example, if the vertebral column is involved, collapse of these bones could lead to paralysis. Treatment with radioactive iodine or external radiation therapy may be necessary to stabilize the bone and decrease pain from the cancer invasion.
Pathology is key in predicting survival.