Some tumors are hard and some tumors are soft.
Whether a tumor is hard or soft does not always indicate that it's cancerous or benign.
Tumors that are cancerous are often hard although some cancerous tumors are soft depending on the type and location of the tumor.
Lumps which are large, hard and not easily moved can be possibly cancerous and should be checked out by a doctor.
Some tumors can also be painless and other can cause pain even when they're cancerous or non cancerous.
A cancerous lump will often look irregular in shape and is often hard and not soft or squishy.
Cancerous lumps often have angular or irregular or asymmetrical edges instead of being smooth.
Cancerous lumps often are firm or hard to the touch, unlike the benign lumps which may be soft or squishy feeling and they often have uneven or jagged edges instead of being smooth or having well defined boundaries.
The cancerous lump will often feel fixed in place and not move easily when it's pushed, unlike the benign lumps which can be moved around.
And a lump that does not go away or grow overt time is a cause for concert and a lump that is cancerous can be large or small but the most important factor when determining if a lump is benign or cancerous is in how the lump feels and whether or not it's changing.
You cannot tell if a lump is cancerous from an ultrasound although the ultrasound can detect lumps that may or may not be cancerous.
The lump would have to be removed and tested to see if it's cancerous or not.
Cancer in your neck will feel like a lump in your neck and or a sore in your mouth or throat that does not heal and it can be painful.
Or you may also have a sore throat that does not go away and have difficulty swallowing and a change in the voice or hoarseness.
A high TSH does most often mean cancer although in some cases it may not be.
In people with nodular thyroid disease the risk of thyroid malignancy increases with serum TSH and even within normal ranges a higher TSH value is associated with a higher frequency and more advanced stage of thyroid cancer.
The signs and symptoms of thyroid cancer include.
A lump in the neck, sometimes growing quickly.
Swelling in the neck.
Pain in the front of the neck, sometimes going up to the ears.
Hoarseness or other voice changes that do not go away.
Trouble swallowing.
Trouble breathing.
A constant cough that is not due to a cold.
Thyroid cancer is a cancer of the thyroid which is the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck.
The cause of thyroid cancer is not really known 100 percent, but the cause of thyroid cancer may involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Some people have no symptoms of thyroid cancer while others may notice a lump in the neck.
Treatments for thyroid cancer, which are usually successful, include surgery, hormone therapy, radioactive iodine, radiation, and in some cases chemotherapy.
Around 85 out of every 100 men (around 85%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Almost 90 out of every 100 women (almost 90%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Most thyroid cancers respond well to treatment and aren't life-threatening.
After thyroid surgery or treatments, your body still needs thyroid hormones to function.
You'll need thyroid replacement hormone therapy for life.
It has been found that papillary thyroid cancers of any size that are confined to the thyroid gland are unlikely to result in death due to the cancer.
Specifically, the 20-year survival rate was estimated to be 97% for those who did not receive treatment and 99% for those who did.