FRIDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Some Japanese survivors of the World War II atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced key genetic changes that may have sparked the onset of a form of thyroid cancer, new research indicates.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is typically linked to a particular genetic mutation involving the so-called BRAF gene. But Japanese researchers say that among Japanese atom bomb survivors, a different and relatively rare disease trigger -- involving the chromosomal rearrangement of the RET/PTC gene -- seems to be to blame.

THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Two genes linked to breast, thyroid and kidney cancer have been identified by Cleveland Clinic researchers. The discovery of the genes SDHB and SDHD could help improve early detection of these cancers and boost patients' chances of survival.

In addition, the researchers said their finding could improve screening and treatment of patients with Cowden Syndrome (CS) and CS-like disease, which are difficult-to-recognize conditions that lead to a high risk of developing breast, thyroid and other cancers.

Lawrence C. Wood, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of the Thyroid Foundation of America, answers what the
treatment for thyroid cancer is?