This article is a collaboration between MedPage Today and:
ORLANDO -- Thyroid cancer incidence in the U.S is rising among young people, as well as Hispanics and African Americans, a researcher reported here.
While thyroid cancer incidence declined from 7.1% before 2009 to 2.2% after 2009 for non-Hispanic whites, incidence among Hispanics and African Americans has continuously increased, with an average change of 4.7% and 5.1% respectively, reported Anupam Kotwal, MBBS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues.
Action Points
- Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
"Thyroid cancer incidence is leveling off in the United States. Our analysis, however, shows that the trend of deceleration mainly occurred in non-Hispanic whites and in older populations, whereas the rate of thyroid cancer continuously increased among the young and the Hispanic and black populations," said Kotwal during a press event at ENDO 2017.
"Our findings are important because they suggest disparity in thyroid cancer diagnosis with possible implications in disease-specific outcomes as well as societal and economic costs," he added.
Kotwal's group examined data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER 18) program from 2000 to 2013. Using SEER Explorer, a publicly available online interactive tool, they reviewed age-adjusted incidence, including average percent change in incidence and trends in age-adjusted rates.
The researchers found that from 2000 to 2013, thyroid cancer incidence increased from 7.4 to 14.5 cases per 100,000 people, with an annual percent increase of 6.7% from 2000 through 2009 (P<0.05) and 2.4% from 2010 through 2013 (P<0.05).
Stratified by age group, thyroid cancer continued to accelerate at that rate only among people ages 20 and younger. However, among people ages 75 and up, the rising incidence stabilized after 2009, with an average change of 1%.
Females and males displayed similar decline in their overall rates after 2009, with average changes of 2.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
When subgroups were combined based on their association with acceleration or deceleration rates, the group with the highest average percent change without any evidence of deceleration was Hispanic females between the ages of 20 and 49.
The researchers stated that these findings are consistent with recent reports that rank thyroid cancer as the second most common cancer among Hispanic females, female adolescents, and young adults.
Kotwal shared several theories on why the incidence disparities might exist, "Before 2010, access to healthcare was lower in Hispanic and black populations which has improved. That could suggest why the incidence increased in these populations. With access comes knowledge, and thyroid is one of the most overdiagnosed [cancers] in populations," he said.
Kotwal called for future analysis to see if the change in thyroid cancer incidence persists. "Whether this increase in incidence is due to more testing (e.g., thyroid ultrasound) or truly represents a higher predilection of these patient groups for thyroid cancer will need further investigation," he noted.
Primary Source
The Endocrine Society
"Thyroid cancer incidence continues to rise in young, hispanic and african-american populations in the united states" ENDO 2017; SH04-6.