Is thyroid cancer becoming more common?

Data show that thyroid cancer is indeed “increasing”

Cancer registry data from 1960 to 2007 from 12 countries or regions on five continents suggest that the incidence of thyroid cancer is steadily increasing in both men and women. In Hong Kong, for example, between the 1980s and 2007, the incidence rate increased from about 1.5 cases per 100,000 men to about 2.5 cases per 100,000 women, and from about 5 cases per 100,000 women to more than 8 cases per 100,000.

It is clear that thyroid cancer is not only increasing, but may be a “disease of the rich” – more than twice as common in high-income countries as in low- and middle-income countries, for both women and men.

Women are more likely to get thyroid cancer. It now ranks as the 5th most common malignancy in women.

The rise in incidence may reflect advances in screening and more early detection, but there is no need to panic about “microscopic cancers”

If you look at the reasons for the high incidence of thyroid cancer, it may be a “good thing”: as we become more aware of our health and as medical screening and diagnosis improves, more and more previously overlooked conditions are “coming to the surface. As we become more aware of our health and as medical screening and diagnostic methods improve, more and more previously overlooked conditions “surface”. For example, the development of diagnostic imaging technology, represented by ultrasound, has increased the detection rate of microscopic cancers (less than 1 cm).

Does it make sense to detect a lot of “microscopic cancers”?

A typical example is that in 1999, the Korean government began a comprehensive tumor screening policy, which directly increased the proportion of people who were screened for thyroid cancer, and the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased dramatically since then. in 2011, the incidence of thyroid cancer in Korea was 15 times higher than in 1993, and the more people who were screened, the higher the incidence of thyroid cancer. Most new cases are less than 1 cm in diameter. Yet there were no huge fluctuations in thyroid cancer mortality.

In fact, early studies have suggested that at least one-third of thyroid cancers are insidious and microscopic and do not affect the life expectancy of patients. Some of the low-risk microscopic cancers do not require surgical removal, as long as they are reviewed regularly as directed by your doctor.

As you can see in the data from the 12 countries or regions above, the death rate from thyroid cancer has declined despite the rising incidence.

Of course, modern lifestyles may also be associated with higher rates of thyroid cancer, but there is a lack of clear research evidence.