Understanding C-Cell Hyperplasia & Nodular Thyroid Disease: Potential Signs of Medullary Thyroid Cancer

C-cell hyperplasia and nodular thyroid disease combine to suggest the presence of medullary thyroid cancer. The Hormone Foundation indicates this form of thyroid malignancy is uncommon, comprising only about 5 percent of cases

Nodules

• Lumps of thyroid cells that clump together in the gland are referred to as nodules and suggest the presence of nodular thyroid disease. Cedars-Sinai Health System says only about 5 percent of nodules become cancerous.

C-Cell Hyperplasia

• C-cell hyperplasia is a pre-malignant stage of medullary thyroid cancer, one of the less-common forms of thyroid carcinoma. A lesion results due to the accumulation of an abnormal number of normal cells within the gland.

Identification

• C-cell hyperplasia mutates in a different way than other potential cancers. "It does not arise from the thyroid cells themselves, but rather from the specialized 'C-cells' that are in between the thyroid cells," says the New York Thyroid Center of Columbia University. These cells produce a substance called calcitonin.

Diagnosis

• Calcitonin is vital in detecting the presence of C-cell hyperplasia and medullary thyroid cancer. "Plasma calcitonin is a sensitive marker of calcitonin-secreting C-cell disease, and routine calcitonin determination in patients with thyroid nodules permits early diagnosis," according to a 2007 study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Prognosis

• Medullary thyroid cancer is typically not diagnosed early enough to prevent a spread to other areas of the body. This results in a higher mortality rate than that of other thyroid cancers.