Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Email

Thyroid

DCEG researchers conduct studies on thyroid cancer. The four main types of thyroid cancer are papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic. In addition to the selected studies below, investigators routinely monitor shifting incidence trends for multiple malignancies, including cancers of the thyroid. Learn more about our research using descriptive epidemiological methods.

 

  • Chernobyl Childhood Thyroid Dosimetry

    A coordinated study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases in a cohort of 25,000 persons from Belarus and Ukraine who were exposed in childhood to fallout from the Chernobyl Nuclear accident.

  • International Pooled Analysis of Risk Factors for Thyroid Cancer

    An analysis of thyroid cancer risk combining data from prospective studies in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia

  • Perinatal Exposures and Thyroid Cancer Risk

    Thyroid cancer incidence is much higher in women than men, and this sex difference peaks during the reproductive years. This study investigates perinatal characteristics and exposures in Nordic women.

  • Thyroid Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (TCRAT)

    The R package thyroid implements a risk prediction model developed by NCI researchers to calculate the absolute risk of developing a second primary thyroid cancer (SPTC) in individuals who were diagnosed with a cancer during their childhood.

Anatomy of the thyroid and parathyroid glands; drawing shows the thyroid gland at the base of the throat near the trachea. An inset shows the front and back views. The front view shows that the thyroid is shaped like a butterfly, with the right lobe and left lobe connected by a thin piece of tissue called the isthmus. The back view shows the four pea-sized parathyroid glands. The larynx is also shown.

Obesity Associated with Papillary Thyroid Cancer Increase

Overweight and obesity may have contributed to the rapid rise in papillary thyroid cancer incidence in the U.S.
Two graphs showing that individuals who recieve RAI treatment experience greater risk of hematologic cancers within 5-10 years after treatment and greater risk of solid cancers about 20 or more years after treatment.

Radioactive Iodine and Increased Risk of Second Cancers

Dr. Elisa Pasqual investigates the risks of RAI treatment for thyroid cancer in the largest study of its kind with more than 40 years of follow up.
Email