Diagnosing endocrine cancer

Maybe it's time to see a doctor about your increasingly hoarse voice or the painful lump in your neck. Perhaps you've lost weight and your blood sugar keeps spiking, but you're not diabetic.

If you're puzzled by strange new symptoms that don't seem related to any known illness, The Christ Hospital Health Network can help. Our network of doctors includes top primary care physicians, endocrinologists and many other specialists. We'll work together, and with you, to figure out what's going on.

And if we suspect cancer, rest assured we'll confirm it (or rule it out) quickly and accurately.

State-of-the-art diagnostic tools

Our cancer specialists use many tools to diagnose endocrine cancer. These tests include:

• Fine needle aspiration biopsy used to detect cancer in a thyroid nodule or to treat thyroid cysts.

• Reflexive molecular testing to detect specific gene mutations that play a role in thyroid cancer or may help to reveal whether thyroid cancer is present within a thyroid nodule.

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to understand the size and shape of the thyroid cancer..

• Combined positron emission tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) used to evaluate the thyroid and plan treatment.

• Sestamibi parathyroid scan used to localize cancers of the parathyroid glands

Next steps

If you are diagnosed with endocrine cancer, your doctor will need to "stage" it (see how advanced it is).

Even if you were not diagnosed early, there is still hope. We offer the latest treatments, even for cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.