ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To examine health-related quality of life (HRQOL), disease-specific symptoms, and relationships between HRQOL and disease-specific symptoms among thyroid cancer patients after surgery in Yunnan Province, the People’sRepublic of China. METHODS Participants in this cross-sectional study included 333 persons with thyroid cancer after surgery receiving care at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. The HRQOL was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Question-naire. The Thyroid Cancer Specific HRQOL questionnaire was used to measure the disease-specific symptoms. RESULTS The mean global health score was 75.00 + 17.09. The mean score of role, social, physical, cognitive, and emotional function were 95.10±14.32,92.67±16.12, 92.00±8.94, 82.83±16.15 and 81.11±16.47, respectively. The top three disease-specific symptoms experienced by thyroid cancer patients after surgery were psychological symptoms (18.74±17.16), problems with scars (17.77±24.18) and throat/mouth symptoms (17.07±16.64). There were statistically significant negative correlations between dimensions of disease-specific symptoms and dimensions of HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed negative relationships between HRQOL and disease-specific symptoms experienced by thyroid cancer patients after surgery. Health care providers caring for thyroid cancer patients, especially those in China, could use these findings as a basis for further enhancing thequality of care for patients with thyroid cancer after surgery. KEYWORDS health-related quality of life, quality of life, symptoms, thyroid camcer