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Thyroid Cancer

DCEG researchers conduct studies on thyroid cancer etiology and survivorship. They routinely monitor changing patterns in thyroid cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Learn more about our research using descriptive epidemiological methods.

To better understand the etiology of thyroid cancer, they conduct case-control and cohort studies examining a wide range of exposures, ranging from more well-established risk factors (e.g., childhood exposure to ionizing radiation), to factors that have a tentative but plausible connection with thyroid cancer risk (e.g., sex steroid hormones, environmental contaminants). They also investigate health concerns specific to thyroid cancer survivors, including the potential late effects of radioactive iodine treatment.  

  • 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. These studies investigate 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.

  • Thyroid Cancer and Childhood Leukemia

    DCEG investigators in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) have developed a portfolio of research aimed at identifying cancer-types associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These studies are innovative for their direct assessment of exposure using banked serum specimens as well as their evaluation of risks at varying exposure levels, from occupational exposure to those found in the general population or among military personnel.

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.
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