Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thyroid Cancer: Global Burden and Trends

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The incidence of thyroid cancer continues to increase, representing the 5th most common cancer type in the USA today (Sherman, Lancet 361(9356):501–11, 2003). The current study sought to analyze the global burden of thyroid cancer utilizing the publicly accessible GLOBOCAN database. An estimated 586,202 cases of thyroid cancer were reported in 2020, making thyroid cancer the 10th most common cancer worldwide. The majority of thyroid cancer cases occurred in countries with a high or very high Human Development Index (HDI), accounting for 91% of new cases. With respect to the World Health Organization (WHO) regions, the Western Pacific had the highest incidence of thyroid cancer accounting for 47.6% of cases despite representing only 25.4% of the world’s population. Thyroid cancer incidence and mortality are expected to increase by 29.9% and 67%, respectively, by the year 2040. The African region is projected to experience the highest increase in both incidence (84.3%) and mortality (100.3%) over this time period. The results of our study demonstrate that the incidence and mortality of thyroid cancer vary by the geographic location and socio-economic status. Although the incidence was noted to be the highest in very high HDI countries and the Western Pacific region, mortality was noted to be disproportionately higher in the low HDI countries and African region. This may be due to discrepancies in access to care and/or environmental exposures such as ionizing radiation and iodine deficiency. Further measures are required to improve the outcomes from thyroid cancer regardless of the geographic location or socio-economic status.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Publicly accessible GLOBOCAN database.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  1. Sherman SI (2003) Thyroid carcinoma. Lancet 361(9356):501–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(03)12488-9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Schmidbauer B, Menhart K, Hellwig D et al (2017) Differentiated thyroid cancer-treatment: state of the art. Int J Mol Sci 18(6):1292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061292

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Haugen BR, Alexander EK, Bible KC et al (2016) 2015 American thyroid association management guidelines for adult patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer: the American thyroid association guidelines task force on thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. Thyroid 26(1):1–133. https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2015.0020

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Deng Y, Li H, Wang M et al (2020) Global burden of thyroid cancer from 1990 to 2017. JAMA Netw Open 3(6):e208759. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8759

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F et al. (2020) Global Cancer Observatory: cancer today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/today.

  6. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R et al (2015) Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer 136(5):e359–e386. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.29210

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Are C, Chowdhury S, Ahmad H et al (2016) Predictive global trends in the incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer based on geographic location, socio-economic status, and demographic shift. J Surg Oncol 114(6):736–742. https://doi.org/10.1002/jso.24410

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Bray F, Jemal A, Grey N et al (2012) Global cancer transitions according to the human development index (2008–2030): a population-based study. Lancet Oncol 13(8):790–801. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(12)70211-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Engholm G, Ferlay J, Christensen N et al (2010) NORDCAN–a Nordic tool for cancer information, planning, quality control and research. Acta Oncol 49(5):725–736. https://doi.org/10.3109/02841861003782017

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kolonel LN, Hankin JH, Wilkens LR et al (1990) An epidemiologic study of thyroid cancer in Hawaii. Cancer Causes Control 1(3):223–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117474

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Franceschi S, Preston-Martin S, Dal Maso L et al. (1999) A pooled analysis of case-control studies of thyroid cancer. IV. Benign thyroid diseases. Cancer Causes Control 10(6):583–95. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1008907227706.

  12. Cardis E, Kesminiene A, Ivanov V et al (2005) Risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to 131I in childhood. J Natl Cancer Inst 97(10):724–732. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/dji129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I et al (2018) Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 68(6):394–424. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21492

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ferlay J, Colombet M, Soerjomataram I et al (2019) Estimating the global cancer incidence and mortality in 2018: GLOBOCAN sources and methods. Int J Cancer 144(8):1941–1953. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.31937

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986880 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA

    Jessica B. Shank, Chandrakanth Are & Chelsea D. Wenos

Authors
  1. Jessica B. Shank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chandrakanth Are
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chelsea D. Wenos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Not applicable.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chandrakanth Are.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shank, J.B., Are, C. & Wenos, C.D. Thyroid Cancer: Global Burden and Trends. Indian J Surg Oncol 13, 40–45 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13193-021-01429-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13193-021-01429-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation