The Rise of Thyroid Cancer

A Once-Obscure Disease Emerges as a Significant Health Threat

Thyroid Cancer: While Some Cancers Have Waned in Recent Years, Other Once-Rare Types Have Skyrocketed

Everywhere you look these days, a rainbow of wristbands, car magnets, lapel pins, and t-shirts can be found promoting awareness and support for different cancers -- and for the medical research that is desperately needed to find effective cures. Every year during the month of October, it can seem like the whole world is turning pink, as products ranging from blow dryers to kitchen appliances rally to promote breast cancer awareness among consumers.

The good news? Well, to some degree, these ubiquitous awareness campaigns appear to be working. Overall, deaths from most forms of cancer have declined over the past decade. The rate at which new cases of lung, stomach, colon, and other types of cancer are diagnosed has also slowed in recent years. Researchers partially attribute these trends to more effective early detection, stemming, at least in part, from heightened public awareness of risks and symptoms.

However, though the overall prevalence and death rates of some of the most widely-recognized types of the disease have declined in recent years, some troubling statistics have emerged that paint a more complex picture of cancer. According to recent data, some lesser-known cancers appear to be on the rise.

For example, the last decade has seen increases in melanoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as testicular, prostate, liver, ovarian, and rectal cancers, all of which pose grave threats to patient survival. But one development that has researchers particularly perplexed is the dramatic recent increase in once-rare thyroid cancer.

Doing the Math: Thyroid Cancer’s Surging Prevalence

Several large-scale epidemiological studies conducted over the last several years have shown the overall rate of thyroid cancer diagnosis to be increasing. Between 2000 and 2003 alone, the rate of thyroid cancer rose nearly ten percent. In the span of the next year, it is estimated that 30,000 new cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed.

Today, over 350,000 Americans have been diagnosed with the disease, a sharp increase from the rates of thyroid cancer prevalence that were reported as recently as a decade ago. Among both men and women, thyroid cancer now has the dubious distinction of being the fastest-growing form of the disease.

For reasons scientists have not yet been able to determine, women stand a much greater risk of developing thyroid cancer. One recent study estimated that a female patient is three times more likely to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer than her male counterpart, and well over half of the 350,000 Americans living with the disease are female.

Since 2000, thyroid cancer has edged into the top ten cancers diagnosed in women. Taken together, all of these trends add up to a mystery that some advocacy organizations are dubbing a public health crisis.

Tracking Down the Source of the Thyroid Cancer Spike

Although public health data have proven that the incidence of thyroid cancer is on the rise, researchers have yet to find a clear-cut cause for this trend. In the past, dramatic increases in certain types of cancer have been attributed to cultural and environmental changes. As a result, a number of prominent researchers have speculated that these types of explanations may have played a role in thyroid cancer’s dramatic increase, as well.   

For example, as the social acceptance of smoking has declined, the rates of lung cancer have decreased. On the other hand, it is believed that the increasingly damaged ozone layer is partly to blame for the spike in rates of melanoma and other skin cancers seen in recent years.

Several groups of researchers have begun to explore possible environmental factors that may help explain the rapid rise of thyroid cancer. It is well known that exposure to radiation is a major risk factor for the disease; survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have a thyroid cancer rate that far exceeds that of the general population.

Recent studies have sought to determine whether subtle increases in environmental radiation levels could be the culprit behind the spike in thyroid cancer rates. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, notes that one possible cause may be childhood exposure to radiation. In the early and mid-twentieth century, many physicians treated common childhood illnesses such as tonsillitis and chronic throat problems with radiation therapy.

Another explanation that has been advanced for the recent spike in thyroid cancer is that it is actually the rate of diagnosis, not the rate of incidence, which has increased in recent years. In other words, some experts believe that we are not actually in the midst of a thyroid cancer epidemic, but that the modern health care system has just gotten much better at detecting the disease in its early stages.  

Thyroid Cancer Prognosis: A Silver Lining

Although experts continue to debate the origins of the marked increase in thyroid cancer rates that has been seen in recent years, there is universal agreement on one point: Compared to most other types of cancer, the disease has a very promising survival rate.

Nearly 96% of all adults who are diagnosed with thyroid cancer survive for ten years or more. Those who are under 40, have smaller tumors, and whose cancer was detected early have a nearly 100% rate of survival.

What You Can Do: A Thyroid Cancer Self-Care Action Plan

As researchers continue to delve deeper into the origins of the puzzling increase in thyroid cancer rates, advocacy and awareness groups are working together to educate the public about the disease. Because early detection is such a crucial part of surviving cancer, it’s important for everyone to be aware of the symptoms that can indicate a problem.

Protecting yourself from radiation exposure is probably the single most important part of thyroid cancer prevention. Even seemingly insignificant doses may cause problems over time, according to some researchers, especially in childhood. Also, genetic screening can now predict an individual’s risk for developing medullary thyroid carcinoma with great precision.

The Check Your Neck campaign, an effort mounted by the Light of Life Foundation for Thyroid Cancer, recommends regularly inspecting your neck for any unusual lumps or other newly apparent dimensional features. If you detect anything unusual, make an appointment with your primacy care physician as soon as possible.

Your doctor will assess the lump, and if necessary, perform a biopsy to determine whether the nodule is cancerous. Most lumps found in the neck region turn out to be benign, but when your well-being is on the line, it’s vitally important to enlist the help of a professional to make that determination.

Thyroid Surgeons

R. Anders Rosendahl, M.D. has been treating thyroid disease for over thirty years. His website located at ThyroidCancer.com is devoted to providing information related to thyroid disease and thyroid cancer.

"The surgical technique used in thyroid surgery at The Thyroid Surgery Center of Texas, P.A. has evolved for more than half a century, incorporating all of the best qualities of many of the truly great thyroid surgeons in the history of Head and Neck Surgery and adding to them the experience and knowledge we have obtained over the last three decades. Our patients come from all over the world. Call 512-608-9595 to request a consultation."