Childhood Thyroid Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

Incidence

The annual incidence of thyroid cancers is 4.8 to 5.9 cases per 1 million people aged 0 to 19 years, accounting for approximately 1.5% of all cancers in this age group.[1,2] Thyroid cancer incidence is higher in children aged 15 to 19 years (17.6 cases per 1 million people), and it accounts for approximately 8% of cancers arising in this older age group.[1,3] More thyroid carcinomas occur in females than in males.[4] The trend toward larger tumors suggests that diagnostic scrutiny is not the only explanation for the observed results.[5]

Two time-trend studies using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database have shown a 2% and 3.8% annual increase in the incidence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in the United States among children, adolescents, and young adults in the 1973 to 2011 and 1984 to 2010 periods, respectively.[1,5] A similar trend towards an increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among children, adolescents, and young adults over the last two decades has been documented in Canada.[6]

The incidence of thyroid cancer is higher in whites (5.3 cases per 1 million vs. 1.5 cases per 1 million in blacks) and female adolescents (8.1 cases per 1 million vs. 1.7 cases per 1 million in male adolescents).[1]

The papillary subtype is the most common, accounting for approximately 60% of the cases, followed by the papillary follicular variant subtype (20%–25%), the follicular subtype (10%), and the medullary subtype (<10%).The incidence of the papillary subtype and its follicular variant peaks between the ages of 15 and 19 years. The incidence of medullary thyroid cancer is the highest in the age group of 0 to 4 years and declines at older ages (refer to Figure 1).[2]

Chart showing the incidence of pediatric thyroid carcinoma based on most frequent subtype per 100,000 as a percent of total cohort. — Figure 1. Incidence of pediatric thyroid carcinoma based on most frequent subtype per 100,000 as a percent of total cohort. Reprinted from International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology Exit Disclaimer, Volume 89, Sarah Dermody, Andrew Walls, Earl H. Harley Jr., Pediatric thyroid cancer: An update from the SEER database 2007–2012, Pages 121–126, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.

References

Golpanian S, Perez EA, Tashiro J, et al.: Pediatric papillary thyroid carcinoma: outcomes and survival predictors in 2504 surgical patients. Pediatr Surg Int 32 (3): 201-8, 2016. [PUBMED Abstract]
Dermody S, Walls A, Harley EH Jr: Pediatric thyroid cancer: An update from the SEER database 2007-2012. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 89: 121-6, 2016. [PUBMED Abstract]
Horner MJ, Ries LA, Krapcho M, et al.: SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute, 2009. Also available online. Last accessed August 28, 2018.
Shapiro NL, Bhattacharyya N: Population-based outcomes for pediatric thyroid carcinoma. Laryngoscope 115 (2): 337-40, 2005. [PUBMED Abstract]
Vergamini LB, Frazier AL, Abrantes FL, et al.: Increase in the incidence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children, adolescents, and young adults: a population-based study. J Pediatr 164 (6): 1481-5, 2014. [PUBMED Abstract]
Pole JD, Zuk AM, Wasserman JD: Diagnostic and Treatment Patterns Among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults with Thyroid Cancer in Ontario: 1992-2010. Thyroid 27 (8): 1025-1033, 2017. [PUBMED Abstract]