An experienced surgical oncologist, Dr. Rajiv Datta is the director of the Division of Surgical Oncology and chairs the Department of Surgery at South Nassau Community Hospital in Valley Stream, New York. Dr. Rajiv Datta also serves as an active clinician and as a clinical assistant professor of surgery, in which roles he draws on an in-depth knowledge of thyroid cancer and its forms.

Thyroid cancer develops in one of five different forms, the most common of which is papillary cancer. Responsible for approximately 80 percent of thyroid cancers, it typically develops in a single lobe and is most often slow-growing. Although it may spread to nearby lymph nodes, it tends to respond well to treatment.

Follicular thyroid cancer, also slow-growing and treatable, does not often spread to the lymph nodes, but it may metastasize to other organs. Hurthle cell carcinoma and medullary thyroid cancer may respond positively to treatment, although prognosis may be significantly different, depending on the spread of the disease at the time of diagnosis.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer tends to have the most grave prognosis, although it is also the most rare. It accounts for only 1 percent of thyroid cancer cases and most often metastasizes from a follicular or papillary tumor. Its danger stems largely from its tendency to spread to the trachea and interfere with breathing.