Thyroid cancer can be mild

WASHINGTON - In thyroid cancer, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist faces a disease that can be mild or very aggressive, depending on the type of cancer. The type affecting Rehnquist was not announced immediately.

This relatively uncommon illness will be diagnosed in about 23,600 Americans this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

It starts in the thyroid, a gland in the neck below the Adam's apple that produces hormones to help regulate the body's use of energy.

Some types of thyroid cancer "can be highly effectively treated with surgery, iodine and thyroid suppressant medications," and the patients can live long, healthy and normal lives, said Dr. Paul Wallner of the National Cancer Institute. Patients who have the other, more aggressive types don't do as well.

Two crucial factors that determine the outcome are which type of tumor the patient has and what type of surgery was done, Wallner said.

Even though Rehnquist is 80, if he has one of the more easily treatable forms of cancer it probably would not shorten his life span or hamper his ability to work, said Dr. Herman Kattlove of the American Cancer Society.

He noted that as a judge, Rehnquist wears a suit and tie, something that often leads to early diagnoses of thyroid cancer. That is because having to button that top button every day makes people notice when it becomes uncomfortable, he said.

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