Types of Medication

Thyroid replacement therapy. After thyroidectomy, the patient needs thyroid hormone for the rest of his/her life. An external source of thyroid hormone is sufficient for normal function -- to maintain metabolism, body heat as well as the rate at which the body uses nutrients from food. Thyroid function needs to be monitored and the dose of thyroid hormone replacement adjusted accordingly.

Radio-iodine (I-131) therapy. Both thyroid tumor cells and normal thyroid cells take up iodine in the blood to produce and store thyroid hormone. After surgery for advanced stage follicular and papillary thyroid cancer, a therapeutic (also called "ablative") course of I-131 is given to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to eliminate cancer cells from the body. This is a "systemic" form of cancer therapy, because medication is delivered either intravenously or taken by mouth as a pill or capsule. Chemotherapy is used in thyroid cancer in advanced stages, in recurrence and metastatic disease.

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