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Incidence and Epidemiology of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Is Thyroid Cancer Incidence Truly Increasing, or Is It Simply a Finder Effect?

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Controversies in Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Abstract

Overdiagnosis, or improvements in the ability to detect and diagnose small, indolent thyroid cancers, has been the primary factor contributing to the rapid increases in thyroid cancer incidence and the higher female-to-male predominance (particularly during middle adulthood) observed worldwide. However, less pronounced increases in the incidence of clinically relevant and aggressive forms of differentiated thyroid cancers have implied that there may have been a real increase in the onset and progression of thyroid cancer in the population. Whether modifiable risk factors, such as ionizing radiation exposure and obesity, could have contributed to these changing trends has been a topic of debate. Contributing to this controversy is that the etiology of differentiated thyroid cancer remains poorly understood. Epidemiologic studies are needed that can overcome the challenge of identifying “true” or causal risk factors as opposed to factors associated with a greater likelihood of incidental detection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Cari M. Kitahara

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  1. Cari M. Kitahara
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Correspondence to Cari M. Kitahara .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Sanziana A. Roman

  2. Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Wen T. Shen

  3. Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Julie Ann Sosa

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Kitahara, C.M. (2023). Incidence and Epidemiology of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Is Thyroid Cancer Incidence Truly Increasing, or Is It Simply a Finder Effect?. In: Roman, S.A., Shen, W.T., Sosa, J.A. (eds) Controversies in Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37135-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37135-6_1

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