Most thyroid cancers can be successfully treated. These may include physical exams, blood tests, neck ultrasound, chest x-rays, and radioactive iodine scans. The names are based on how the cancer cells look under a microscope. Both thyroid cancers can grow large enough to spread beyond the thyroid gland. This is called soft tissue extension.
Papillary carcinoma can often spread from the thyroid to lymph nodes in the neck or upper chest.
Both types can sometimes spread from the neck to the lungs, more rarely to bones, and even more rarely to other places in the body. Fewer than 1 out of 10 people with thyroid cancer die from the disease. Why people get papillary or follicular thyroid cancer is usually not known. The only exposure that is known to cause thyroid cancer is radiation to the neck. This is radiation that was received as treatment for medical problems in the head and neck.