The exams and tests below may be suggested to a person who has symptoms of thyroid cancer:

1) Physical exam - doctor will feel the neck, thyroid, and lymph nodes in the neck for unusual growths (nodules) or swelling.

2) Blood tests - the doctor may test for abnormal levels (too low or too high) of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in the blood. TSH stimulates the release of thyroid hormone. If medullary thyroid cancer is suspected, doctor may check for abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood.(this blood test mainly to look for the abnormality of thyroid in term of its function).

3) Biopsy – biopsy is the removal of tissue from a thyroid nodule for examination. A pathologist will check a sample of tissue whether it is affected by cancer or not under a microscope. All this while, biopsy is the best way to check cancerous. The doctor may use one of two ways of biopsy listed below:

• Fine-needle aspiration: A sample of tissue is taken from a thyroid nodule with a thin needle. Sometimes, the doctor uses an ultrasound device to guide the needle through the nodule.
• Surgical biopsy: If a diagnosis cannot be made from the fine-needle aspiration, operation might be done to remove the whole nodule to

4) Imaging test - A number of imaging tests are performed for diagnosis of various thyroid conditions. These tests include:

• Ultrasound: An ultrasound machine uses sound waves that people cannot hear. The waves bounce off the thyroid and create a picture. The doctor uses the picture to examine the size and shape of each nodule and see whether the nodules are solid (may be cancer) or filled with fluid (usually not cancer).

• Thyroid Scan: Patient needed to swallow (usually as a pill) or injected into a vein a small amount of radioactive iodine. After thyroid cells absorb the radioactive iodine, the camera is used to measure the amount of radiation in the gland. Patient will have either one of these two affects which are:
  
  
  1. If the nodules absorb more of radioactive iodine than thyroid tissue around them, it means “hot” nodules. Hot nodules are usually not cancer.
  2. However if nodules absorb less of radioactive iodine than the thyroid tissue around them, it means “cold” nodules. Cold nodules may be cancer.

• CT scan (CAT scan): CT scan is a procedure that makes a detailed picture of areas inside the body, taken from different angles. The pictures are made by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. Patients needed to swallow a dye or injected a dye into a vein to help the organs or tissues show up more clearly on the picture. This procedure is also called computed tomography, computerized tomography, or computerized axial tomography.

• MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): MRI is a procedure that uses a magnet, radio waves, and a computer to make a detailed picture of areas inside the body. This procedure is also called nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI).

• PET scan (Positron Emission Tomography Scan): Patients are injected a small amount of radioactive glucose (sugar) into a vein. Then the PET scanner scans around the body and makes a picture of where glucose is being used in the body. If the nodules take up more glucose than normal cells do, it shows up brighter in the picture because they are more active (means cancer).

Updated:: 18/03/2019 []