My sister (42 years old when diagnosed) has Medullary Thyroid Cancer. They originally thought she had Graves Disease, but when they removed her thyroid, they found the cancer during routines biopsies. She has had her second surgery to remove the lymph nodes in both sides of her neck and to do the disection of the right side tissues. During that surgery they had to remove the jugular vein on the right side as it was taken over by the cancer. She has since had radiation localized in her neck but still has a calcitonin level of 60'ish and it has been 4 months sincer her dissection surgery.
My questions are:
What is her prognosis? She just turned 43 years old and seems to have a reoccurring problem with the level of calcitonin. She is having a scan in September, but, to be honest, I have no idea what they are looking for. I just know they are scanning the neck and chest area.
The tests indicate this is not a hereditary form of the disease, but all of the women on my mother's side of the family have thyroid diseases (goiters, hyperthyroids, partial or full thyroid removals, etc.), although none confirmed as cancer. Should I get tested for this disease? If so, what sort of tests should I ask for?