What Are the Symptoms of Bone Metastasis from Thyroid Cancer?

Symptoms of bone metastasis of thyroid cancer include those caused by the primary tumor. The patients mainly manifest as hoarseness or choking while drinking water, difficulty breathing or swallowing. As the tumor continues to develop, patients will gradually show symptoms such as difficulty breathing or swallowing, radiating pain in the ears, occiput, and shoulders, venous compression and expansion in the neck, or narrowing of the eye fissure and pupil, lymphadenectasis on the ipsilateral or bilateral sides, and other severe symptoms of bone metastasis. The main symptom of back pain in patients with bone metastasis is nocturnal pain. Such patients may experience characteristic pain symptoms depending on the location of the metastatic tumor in the bone. For instance, when the metastatic site is in the middle segment of the sternum, the radiating pain may be belt-like around the chest and back. When the metastatic site is in the lumbar spine, the pain may radiate to one or both sides of the sacroiliac bones, anterior superior iliac spines, and groin. Moreover, this type of pain cannot be effectively relieved with ordinary analgesics. The most typical symptom of thyroid cancer is bone pain, which becomes increasingly severe and unbearable as the tumor grows and metastasizes. These severe symptoms of bone metastasis of thyroid cancer often cause immense suffering to patients. At this stage, professional cancer pain medications can be prescribed to alleviate the patient's symptoms. With the infiltration of cancer cells and the enlargement of the tumor, compression and traction can lead to more severe symptoms in patients with bone metastasis of thyroid cancer, such as decreased appetite, weight loss, fever, and other systemic symptoms. Patients may also experience pathological fractures or deformities, pain in the affected area, and local masses and swelling in the joints and limbs. The movement of the patient's joints and limbs may be restricted, which can have a significant impact on their overall health.