Original of this article was published on ZRT Laboratory Blog. Last reviewed: May 2026.
The increasing incidence of thyroid cancer makes it a timely topic for any time of the year. Healthcare providers should be aware that record numbers of papillary thyroid cancers are being diagnosed, and the corresponding awareness campaign promotes a “neck check” for early detection and treatment. Heightened public awareness is also hoped to encourage research leading to a cure for all types of thyroid cancer.
A review of the research literature reveals a controversy around the upsurge of this common endocrine cancer. Are more frequent and sophisticated detection methods identifying tumours at an earlier stage than in the past? Or is thyroid cancer really dramatically increasing in incidence? The answer may surprise you.
Thyroid Cancer Is Among the Top 10 Most Common Cancer Types
National Cancer Institute statistics show a striking rise in the incidence of thyroid cancer worldwide in the last few decades. From 2007 to 2011, it increased an average of 5.5% each year. It affects approximately 12.9 per 100,000 men and women per year, with deaths occurring at the rate of 0.5 per every 100,000 people.
Affecting women three times more often than men, the median age of diagnosis for thyroid cancer is 50. However, younger people are not exempt, and the highest percentage of deaths occurs among those aged 75 to 84, most often from medullary thyroid cancer.
Despite the numbers, some experts maintain that the explanation for the increase is due to diagnostic intensity rather than a true increase in disease occurrence. As one JAMA Network article declares: “the increased incidence is not an epidemic of disease but rather an epidemic of diagnosis.”
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Is There an Issue of Over-Detection?
The concern by some is that over-diagnosis catches small tumours that may not cause problems for decades. Autopsies frequently confirm small, undiagnosed thyroid cancers in patients who had died from other causes. In general, thyroid cancer has a slow progression, is symptomatic only when advanced, and rarely causes death — so it is unsurprising that it might be perceived as overly diagnosed.
Critics claim early detection may result in unnecessary treatment, possible adverse consequences and unavoidable economic costs without any change in mortality. Because of this, the American Thyroid Association has proposed that only those with thyroid nodules >1 cm should be evaluated, if no additional risk factors are present. Such risk factors include:
- Being between age 40–50 (women) or age 60–70 (men)
- History of childhood head and neck irradiation
- Total body irradiation for bone marrow transplantation
- Family history of thyroid carcinoma or thyroid cancer syndrome in a first-degree relative
- Exposure to ionising radiation from fallout in childhood or adolescence
Signs Point to Environment and Diet as Leading Causes
Although the incidence of papillary carcinomas has had the most increase, researchers maintain that thyroid cancers of all types and stages have shown an upsurge that cannot be explained by detection alone. The incidence of thyroid cancer has risen in parts of the world where medical imaging is less common, suggesting additional factors are responsible.
Dietary risk factors consist mainly of iodine deficiency. Follicular thyroid cancer is higher in areas where iodine is deficient in the soil and not replaced in the diet via iodised salt or other iodine-containing foods. Our Thyroid & Iodine Test Kit measures both thyroid markers and urinary iodine from a simple at-home sample — helping to identify whether iodine deficiency may be a contributing factor to thyroid dysfunction or elevated cancer risk.
Environmental exposure is probably the chief factor in the incidence of thyroid cancer. Types of exposure consist of radiation through atmospheric sources (such as nuclear power plant accidents), ionising radiation treatments for medical conditions, and diagnostic procedures such as medical and dental x-rays and CT scans. Thyroid cancers peaked in Ukraine after the accidental release of radioactive debris from the Chernobyl power plant in 1986. Many radiological diagnostic procedures involve the head and neck, which exposes the thyroid to risk — leading many dental offices to institute thyroid shielding, especially for children.
For those concerned about the combined impact of environmental toxins, heavy metals and thyroid function, our Thyroid, Heavy Metals & Essential Elements Test combines thyroid markers with a comprehensive toxic and essential elements panel — providing a fuller picture of the environmental and nutritional factors that may be affecting thyroid health.
Clearly the reasons for the increased number of thyroid cancer occurrences need to be determined for better prevention. Raising awareness of thyroid cancer — and monitoring thyroid health proactively — is a welcome and important step in this direction.
Original of this article was published on ZRT Laboratory Blog.