A Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis "Epidemic"

Thyroid cancer cases have almost tripled since 1975, but according to a new study, this may be less so a surge in cancer, and more so an increasing trend in over-diagnoses.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, and set out to assess the increasing number of thyroid cancer cases. Researchers found a massive spike in the number of thyroid cancer diagnoses since 1975, but barely any change in mortality rate.

According to the study, diagnoses and treatment of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled, with the number of diagnoses in women in particular being nearly four-fold since 1975. Using federal government data to study patient histories and mortality rates, researchers found that most of these individuals were diagnosed with very light cases of the cancer, which in many cases did not need aggressive treatment. However, the researchers found that both men and women did commonly receive surgical treatments. According to the study, the survival rate for patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer was approximately 95 percent, a statistic that's not surprising considering most of these people were relatively healthy before the diagnoses.

The question, of course, then becomes" should these individuals have been diagnosed with the cancer in the first place?" According to the authors of the study, there is an "epidemic of diagnosis" going on in the U.S., where new technologies are detecting cancers at their earliest and least-threatening stages. In many cases these cancers will never progress, but out-dated medical strategies will tell professionals to act swiftly and aggressively at the first detection of a cancer.

What is needed then, to overcome this "epidemic" is an increase in education on the cancers themselves. Doctors and patients alike, the study concludes, need to become more familiar with the non-lethal versions of thyroid cancer, creating a less worrisome environment and eliminating a risk of over-diagnosis.

The study was published in the JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.