Recently, the Beijing Municipal Health and Population Health Status Report 2013 (Health White Paper) released by Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission shows that among the new cases of malignant tumors, the incidence rate of thyroid cancer is 15.74/100,000, up 393.42% from 2003 (3.19/100,000), with an average annual increase of 16.92% after age standardization, indicating that thyroid cancer has become the The average annual increase is 16.92% after age standardization, indicating that thyroid cancer has become the fastest growing malignant tumor in Beijing. With an increase rate of nearly 400%, it seems alarming that thyroid cancer is on the rise, so let’s find out what it is. What is thyroid cancer? Thyroid cancer accounts for 1% of all malignant tumors in the body. Except for medullary carcinoma, the majority of thyroid cancer originates from follicular epithelial cells. The incidence of thyroid cancer is related to region, race and gender. It is an indisputable fact that thyroid cancer in China has been on the rise in the last decade or so. 1. Data published by 32 national tumor registries (including 14 urban and 18 rural) show that the incidence of thyroid cancer in China has been on the rise from 2003 to 2007: National thyroid cancer incidence rate (WHO standard rate) The incidence rate (WHO rate) was 3.31/100,000, and 5.21/100,000 for women, 3.38 times that of men, and the incidence rate in urban areas was three times that of rural areas. Thyroid cancer accounts for 1.67% of all malignant tumors and is increasing at a rate of 14.51% per year. 2. The data from the above 14 city registries also show that among the 7 provincial capital cities, Guangzhou has the 3rd highest incidence of thyroid cancer among residents, which should be a cause for concern. From 2003 to 2007, the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in Guangzhou was 3.80 per 100,000, and the incidence rate of women was 5.89 per 100,000, second only to Hangzhou and Shanghai. The results of “Epidemiological characteristics of malignant tumor inpatients in Guangzhou from 2004 to 2009” (Chinese Journal of Cancer Prevention and Control, published in 2013), led by Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that the incidence of malignant tumors increased with age from 35 years old; the top 5 incidence rates were: lung cancer, colon/rectum/anus cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer; nasopharyngeal cancer decreased in six years. The incidence rate of nasopharyngeal cancer decreased in six years, but the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in women increased to 341.4%. It is concluded that the incidence rate of malignant tumors in Guangzhou is at a high level in China, and the characteristics of incidence vary among different groups of people; it is suggested that corresponding policies should be formulated for different groups of people, health education should be strengthened, and healthy living should be advocated to reduce the risk of malignant tumors. 4. According to the available information, although the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in three municipalities directly under the central government of China, namely Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, was lower than that of the United States during 1981-2010, the annual growth rate (i.e., growth rate) of Shanghai and Beijing was higher, similar to or even higher than that of the United States, but Tianjin only showed a stable increasing trend, and its incidence rate and annual growth rate were much lower than those of Beijing and Shanghai. 5. The global incidence rate of thyroid cancer in 2012 released by the National Cancer Institute in 2014 showed that the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in China was 1.3 /100,000 for men and 4.4/100,000 for women; the mortality rate was 0.3/100,000, and the incidence rate was lower than that of other developed countries. The data released by WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer and epidemiological surveys in Europe and America can prove that: 1. WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that thyroid cancer is one of the fast-growing malignant tumors in the world in the past 10 years, ranking 3rd among the 7 fast-growing malignant tumors; the incidence rate in developed countries is about 2 times more than that in developing countries. The incidence rate in developed countries is about 2 times more than that in developing countries. Epidemiological data from Europe and the United States show that thyroid cancer has shown the above trend year by year in the past 30 years, and the growth rate has more than tripled, especially in women; thyroid cancer has ranked 5th among female cancers in the United States, and ranked 2nd among female cancers under 45 years old in Italy; the global increase is mainly significant for micro papillary cancer. The increase in thyroid cancer in the United States is more obvious, with the number of women with thyroid cancer reaching 17.3 per 100,000 in 2009 and rising to 20.0 per 100,000 in 2012, with an annual growth rate of 6.6% between 1997 and 2009. 3. The causes of the high incidence of thyroid cancer worldwide have been analyzed by a large number of epidemiological surveys, and the following factors have been internationally agreed upon, but further research is needed. (1), Diagnostic technology and thyroid screening are important reasons for the high incidence of thyroid cancer, but they are not the only factors. With the development of medical diagnostic technology and socio-economic development, the rate of medical consultation and disease screening among the population has increased, and the detection rate of early stage disease has been improved. For example, thyroid cancer used to be detected by palpation when it might grow to 1 cm in diameter; however, with the widespread use of ultrasound diagnostic technology, B can be detected even at 0.1 cm in diameter. Data from the Yale School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health and School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, published in 2014, showed that the incidence of thyroid cancer increased significantly in all states of the United States. There were significant geographic differences in incidence rates: the highest in the Northeast and the lowest in the South. Incidence was significantly associated with endocrinologist/surgeon density and with the use of neck ultrasound. Endocrine/surgeon density and ultrasound use density explained the interstate variation in thyroid cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence suggests that the high incidence of thyroid cancer is due to increased screening for a “reservoir of hidden disease. Therapeutic interventions (including surgery and radiation therapy) triggered by increased screening have had limited benefit. Current trends in the growth of thyroid cancer, as reported by the New York Cancer Center and others in 2013, suggest that more occult cancers will be detected and thus treated with interventions that may not be beneficial for patients with only potentially harmful cancers. The overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer has increased public health concerns. (2) Environmental factors are another important factor. (1) Exposure to radiation during childhood. This is now a recognized risk factor worldwide because the thyroid gland is extremely sensitive to ionizing radiation during childhood. 2013 published a collaborative study between the United States and Japan on the incidence of thyroid cancer in survivors 60 years after the atomic bombings in Japan, and the results showed that the risk of developing thyroid cancer in children exposed to radiation can last for more than 50 years, and the younger the child is when exposed to radiation, the higher the risk of developing thyroid cancer. 2014 A survey led by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the CT scans received by children in a municipal hospital in Ningbo, China, for the whole year of 2012, and assessed the risk of thyroid cancer in these children based on a model designed in the United States for calculating the risk of cancer caused by ionizing radiation, and found that 1,307 children aged 0-15 years in this hospital received CT scans in the whole year of 2012, of which the thyroid gland could be exposed to The CT scans (including sinus, head, and chest) accounted for 74.3% of the total CT scans, with the chest CT having the highest radiation exposure to the thyroid. An assessment of the risk of thyroid cancer in these children showed that the risk of thyroid cancer after chest CT in girls was 14.1/100,000, head CT was 8.7/100,000, and sinus CT was 2.7/100,000, and the younger the child, the higher the risk. These results deserve the attention of doctors and parents, and are one of the core elements of our health education. ②Exposure to harmful chemicals. These substances are widely found in soil, drinking water, certain vegetables and grains. They compete with iodine and affect the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland, so they have a greater effect on those who are iodine deficient and a smaller effect on those who have sufficient iodine. Carcinogenic substances: bromides, formaldehyde, nitrites, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volcanic ash, etc. These substances have been proven to be significantly carcinogenic. (3) Dietary factors ①Iodine intake. Since iodine has a double-edged sword effect on the thyroid gland, iodine deficiency or excess iodine can affect the thyroid gland, so residents should maintain an adequate and appropriate level of iodine intake. ② Diet or lifestyle. It has been proven that metabolic disorders caused by obesity can increase the risk of thyroid cancer. How to prevent thyroid cancer? 1. Avoid ionizing radiation: Reduce or avoid radiation, especially during childhood (focus on radiation of medical origin). 2. Avoid iodine deficiency or iodine overdose. 3.Control weight and reduce obesity. 4.Choose a variety of foods and increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.