Enhanced diagnostic tools bump thyroid cancer stats

Article

Researchers say more sophisticated detection methods-not a change in disease occurrence-account for a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer over the last 30 years.

Researchers say more sophisticated detection methods-not a change in disease occurrence-account for a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer over the last 30 years.

Drs. Louise Davies and H. Gilbert Welch from Dartmouth Medical School and Veteran Affairs, respectively, reviewed data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results and the National Vital Statistics System. They sought to explain a thyroid cancer incidence rise from 3.6 per 100,000 in 1973 to 8.7 per 100,000 in 2002 (JAMA 2006;295:2164-2167). Though they found no significant change in incidence of the less common histological types, they did find the detection of papillary cancers 2 cm or smaller had grown almost threefold in the same period.

The use of ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration boomed in the 1980s and 1990s, enabling detection of very small thyroid nodules. Physician self-referral may also be a contributing factor to increased detection, the researchers said.

"Given the known prevalence of small asymptomatic papillary thyroid cancers at autopsy, we believe this suggests that increased diagnostic scrutiny has caused an apparent increase in incidence of cancer rather than a real increase," the authors said.

http:// diagnosticimaging.com

Recent Videos
What New Research Reveals About the Impact of AI and DBT Screening: An Interview with Manisha Bahl, MD
Can AI Assessment of Longitudinal MRI Scans Improve Prediction for Pediatric Glioma Recurrence?
A Closer Look at MRI-Guided Adaptive Radiotherapy for Monitoring and Treating Glioblastomas
Incorporating CT Colonography into Radiology Practice
What New Research Reveals About Computed Tomography and Radiation-Induced Cancer Risk
What New Interventional Radiology Research Reveals About Treatment for Breast Cancer Liver Metastases
New Mammography Studies Assess Image-Based AI Risk Models and Breast Arterial Calcification Detection
Can Deep Learning Provide a CT-Less Alternative for Attenuation Compensation with SPECT MPI?
Employing AI in Detecting Subdural Hematomas on Head CTs: An Interview with Jeremy Heit, MD, PhD
Pertinent Insights into the Imaging of Patients with Marfan Syndrome
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.