New Study Points to Measurable and Significant Increase in Incidents of Thyroid Cancer

A new study documents rising incidents of thyroid cancer, calculated at about 3% per year, and describes a rising death rate from thryoid cancer at about 1% per year:

Hyeyeun Lim, Susan S. Devesa, Julie A. Sosa, David Check, Cari M. Kitahara, (April 4, 2017). Trends in Thyroid Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the United States, 1974-2013. JAMA. 2017;317(13):1338-1348. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.2719

Question: What have been the trends in US thyroid cancer incidence and mortality, and have they differed by tumor characteristics at diagnosis?

Findings: In this analysis of 77 276 thyroid cancer patients diagnosed during 1974-2013 and of 2371 thyroid cancer deaths during 1994-2013, average annual increases in incidence and mortality rates, respectively, were 3.6% and 1.1% overall and 2.4% and 2.9% for patients diagnosed with advanced-stage papillary thyroid cancer.

Meaning: Thyroid cancer incidence and mortality rates have increased for patients diagnosed with advanced-stage papillary thyroid cancer in the…

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