Objective: To explore the impacts of Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and Radioactive Iodine Ablation (RAI) on symptomatology before and after treatment of Thyroid cancer (TC) patients at Nuclear Institute of Medicine and Radiotherapy (NIMRA) Jamshoro and Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (LINAR), Larkana, Pakistan.
Methodology: The study included 174 thyroid cancer (TC) patients and 174 controls with age and gender matched having negative personal or family history of any cancer or other chronic illness. Both groups before and after treated thyroid cancer patients were interviewed through a standard questionnaire regarding the association and impacts of undesirable consequences of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and RAI ablation upon various symptomatology.
Results: Before and after treatment, there was variety of symptomatology found which badly disturbed the patients. The effects of radiotherapy were not considerable, outcomes of RAI ablation occurred and disturbed a lot, although most of them were reversible while the chemotherapy results were very serious and troubling.
Conclusion: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy improved symptomatology in TC patients. In post radio and chemo therapy, present study revealed positive changes in the disease associated outcome.
Key words: Thyroid cancer, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, LINAR, NIMRA.
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