Otolaryngology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Background: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing rapidly in most countries. This appears to be driven by the overdiagnosis of small papillary thyroid cancer. The aim of our study was to analyze the incidence of thyroid cancer in Ireland. Methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of the Irish national cancer database between 1994 and 2012. Results: A total number of 2261 cancers of the thyroid gland were identified. The incidence increased from 1.6/100,000 in 1994 to 5.97/100,000 in 2011, an annual percentage change of 8.2%. The risk of being diagnosed with thyroid cancer was 3.7 times greater in the later years (p<0.00001). The proportion of papillary thyroid cancer of the total number increased from 49% in 1998 to 83% in 2012. The number of T1-T3 tumors all increased whilst T4 tumors remained stable. Patients with early stage were found to have exceptional 5, 10 and 15-year overall survival rates at 98.7%, 98.2% and 98.2% respectively. Conclusions: Ireland has not been spared by the rise in thyroid cancer seen worldwide. There may be some increase in larger tumors but mainly the uncovering of small papillary thyroid cancers, which in all likelihood would have remained subclinical, drives this rise in incidence. The challenge in the future will be to identify those malignancies that will cause harm.

Biography

Email: joneill@rcsi.ie