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Monday, 16 January 2012

Doctors unsure why thyroid cancer cases on the rise

Thyroid cancer, which affects about 11 people per 100,000 each year, seems to be on the rise. It's a trend that baffles medical researchers. National Cancer Institute statistics suggest that in recent years the number of cases of this often curable cancer has increased by about 6.5%. Over a decade, that has added up to make thyroid cancer the fastest-increasing cancer, says Tod Huntley, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon with the Center for Ear, Nose, Throat and Allergy in Indianapolis.

"Ten years ago, if I saw four new thyroid cancer patients a year, it would have been a lot," says G. Irene Minor, a radiation oncologist with Indiana University Health Central Indiana Cancer Center. "Now sometimes I see that many in a month, and I have seen three in a week."...read more>>>...