New Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Web Site Educates Patients, Families, Professionals, and Public About Rare Thyroid Cancer

Free Resource, Developed by Survivors, Caregivers, and Physician Specialists,
Is Sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association.

Thyroid cancer is rare in young people, though thyroid cancer is a cancer that is increasing in incidence and affects people in age groups, including children and adolescents.

Now, the newly launched Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Web Site gives patients, families, and physicians ready access to key information about this disease, treatments, and physician-patient communications when diagnosed with either pediatric differentiated thyroid cancer (papillary and follicular) or pediatric medullary thyroid cancer.

The new web site is sponsored by the national voluntary nonprofit organization ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.. The medical content receives ongoing review and input from ThyCa’s Medical Advisory Council of 21 nationally known thyroid cancer specialists, as well as from additional specialists with expertise in pediatric thyroid cancer.

The web site’s authors are families with first-hand experience with pediatric thyroid cancer, many of whom take part in ThyCa’s Pediatric Thyroid Cancer e-mail support group begun in 2000. These volunteers chose the topics they felt that families need to understand when a child or adolescent is first diagnosed. They emphasized the importance of parents' advocating for their children, educating themselves, and encouraging their child's physicians to network with physicians who specialize in pediatric thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer specialist physicians provided input and review. The site will continue to expand and to add information on treatment, research, and support services. It is part of the larger site www.thyca.org.

"I would like to thank all those at ThyCa who have worked to bring this project to fruition." said Lauri Huber of Illinois, parent of a child with thyroid cancer and coordinator of the site development project. "I feel like a proud relative seeing a child on stage for the first time. I am proud of the efforts and what has been pulled together by so many volunteers with the input of physician specialists. From the bottom of my heart, I humbly say thank you."

"It is my hope that the families who come behind us on this journey will find that we have paved the path with light, hope, and encouragement. I hope it will not be as frightening and confusing for them as it was for many of us who walked the path before them," she added.

“Because pediatric thyroid cancer is so rare, families need current treatment information about the different types of pediatric thyroid cancer. That is the reason for this web site,” says Gary Bloom, ThyCa Board Chair. “This site is an important accomplishment and a highly useful tool in pediatric thyroid cancer management.”

The new site is one of many free education and support services available from ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association.

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals, dedicated to support, education, and communication, as well as awareness for early detection, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

ThyCa’s annual international conference will be held this year in Orlando, Florida, on October 27-29, 2006, with 46 physician-led sessions and more than 100 sessions in all. ThyCa also sponsors Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month and year-round awareness campaigns.

For more information, call ThyCa at 1-877-588-7904, fax to 630-604-6078, send e-mail to thyca@thyca.org, or visit www.thyca.org.