Standard Treatment  Patients who have only distant lymph node metastasis may often be cured by radioactive iodine after a total thyroidectomy.
    Solitary lung or bone metastases should be surgically removed, if possible. A therapeutic dose of radioactive iodine is then given; if there is no uptake, external radiation therapy is given to the area involved. Taking thyroid hormone to suppress TSH may be effective in many metastatic tumors that are not sensitive to radioactive iodine.
    Chemotherapy has produced occasional long-term remission.

Ten-Year Survival  Less than 20 percent 

Follicular Thyroid Cancer 
Stage I
The tumor is localized to the thyroid gland (IA if on one side, IB if on both sides or there are multiple lesions).

Standard Treatment  Either a near-total thyroidectomy or a lobectomy may be done. This type of cancer has a higher risk of metastasis to lung and bone. One disadvantage of leaving a remnant of thyroid is the difficulty in subsequent scanning with radioactive iodine (I-131). The residual thyroid rather than the metastasis will take up the isotope.