Cancer Health

While head and neck cancers are on the decline, thyroid cancer seems to be on the rise. However, researchers are not sure if this is due to an improvement in detecting thyroid cancer or if the increase in this cancer is due to exposure to environmental radiation.

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center researchers examined the trends in thyroid cancer incidence and death in the U.S. to determine if the increase in thyroid cancer diagnosis suggest a real change in thyroid cancer incidence or simply the improved ability to diagnose thyroid cancer. They conclude that most of the increase is due to better diagnostic methods. During the research, they did not find an increase in death rate from thyroid cancer.

According to the researchers, while some thyroid cancers can spread and cause death, people can have thyroid cancer without knowing it because there are no symptoms. Autopsy studies have shown that many individuals not known to have thyroid cancer during their lifetime had thyroid cancer. I am not sure how much comfort this news is — or is not.