Overdiagnosis of Thyroid Cancer Persists

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer in the United States remains a persistent problem, according to a study published online Feb. 5 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Michelle M. Chen, M.D., from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues examined whether U.S. thyroid cancer incidence has truly decreased or merely plateaued and to understand some of the underlying factors driving these trends. The analysis included 91,968 patients with thyroid cancer identified from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and the National Center for Health Statistics database (1975 to 2019).

The researchers found that the rise and subsequent plateau in the incidence of thyroid cancer have been primarily driven by time period effects, likely due to changing patterns in diagnostic pressure. The incidence of thyroid cancer by age increased during the study period and was driven predominantly by overdiagnosis. Although the incidence of thyroid cancer has plateaued, it remains at peak levels, suggesting that overdiagnosis remains a crucial unresolved public health issue.

“Further work is needed to help limit the current drivers of overdiagnosis and to implement novel solutions aimed at … physicians, patients, and policy makers,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to relevant organizations.

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