Thyroid cancer treatment explained as Pam Bondi pictured with neck bandage
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Earlier this week, it was announced that former US Attorney General Pam Bondi was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
Bondi revealed that she was diagnosed with the illness shortly after she lost her position in Donald Trump's administration.
On Friday, the former Attorney General was seen with a bandage on her neck after undergoing the treatment for the cancer.
She was seen arriving to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, where she was asked questions on the federal government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
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The 60-year-old recently told CNN that she had surgery a few weeks ago, and is undergoing treatment. She told the publication that despite all this, she was 'doing well'.
Thyroid cancer is 'is a growth of cells that starts in the thyroid', Mayo Clinic states, but if caught early, it is typically treatable.
Symptoms typically include, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, a lump in the neck, changes in voice, trouble swallowing and breathing and a cough not linked to a cold.
In the United States, thyroid cancer is said to account for around 2.1 percent of all new cancer cases.
As per Mayo Clinic, treatment options for this particular type of cancer depend on the type and stage of thyroid cancer, and your overall health.
However, most people who require treatment will undergo surgery to remove part, or all of their thyroid.
“The surgeon often leaves small rims of thyroid tissue around the parathyroid glands to reduce the risk of damage to the parathyroid glands, which help regulate the calcium levels in your blood,” Mayo Clinic states of the operation.
During the operation, a surgeon will make an incision in the lower neck to access the thyroid. The incision is usually placed under a skin fold, as seen with the placement of Bondi’s bandage. This is so when it heals, the scar is harder to notice.
There is also the option of a thyroid lobotomy, which is recommended for those with ‘ slow-growing thyroid cancer in one part of the thyroid’ and no cancer in the lymph node. With this, only half of the thyroid is removed.
For cancer which has spread to the lymph node, surgeons may remove these.
Those with advanced or aggressive thyroid cancers may be placed on chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or targeted drug therapy.
After the surgery, a number of patients are placed on pills, Thyroid hormone therapy, which supplement hormones that are produced in the thyroid.