Thyroid cancer incidence trends by histology in 25 countries: a population-based study

A new study conducted by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in collaboration with researchers from the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (Italy) and the World Health Organization, presents an overview of international trends in the incidence of thyroid cancer by histological subtype. The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

This is the first population-based study that provides a global assessment of the epidemiology of less common histological subtypes of thyroid cancer over an extended period. The researchers assessed trends in data on cancer diagnoses collected by IARC from 87 population-based cancer registries in 25 countries for the period 1998–2012.

The study shows that the observed rapid increases in thyroid cancer incidence during this period were largely limited to papillary thyroid cancer, the subtype that is more likely to be found in a subclinical form and therefore to be detected by intense scrutiny of the thyroid gland. This finding clarifies the epidemiological characteristics of overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer at the international level and provides further confirmation of the driving role of overdiagnosis in the observed increase in thyroid cancer incidence.

Miranda-Filho A, Lortet-Tieulent J, Bray F, Cao B, Franceschi S, Vaccarella S, Dal Maso L.
Thyroid cancer incidence trends by histology in 25 countries: a population-based study
Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, Published online 1 March 2021;
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00027-9

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