Epidemiology

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrinologic malignancy.[16]

In the US, thyroid cancer accounts for 2.2% of all new cancer cases; median age at diagnosis is 51 years.[17]​ There were an estimated 44,020 new cases in 2024, with 2170 deaths attributable to the disease.[17]​

Thyroid cancer incidence rates are approximately three times higher in women than in men.[16][17]​ In the US, the lifetime probability of developing invasive thyroid cancer is 1.8% (1 in 55) for women and 0.7% (1 in 149) for men.[18]

Thyroid cancer incidence rates vary geographically, with the highest rates occurring in North America and the lowest rates in Africa, although this may reflect varying data quality worldwide.[19] 

Thyroid cancer incidence rates have been rising in many countries.[20][21][22][23]​​ Overdiagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer is the predominant contributor; it has been estimated that 70% to 80% of cases in the US are asymptomatic lesions that would have gone undetected during a patient's lifetime in the absence of imaging studies.[24]

Incidence rates of clinically relevant thyroid cancers, as defined by histology, size, and invasiveness, have not changed significantly in 80 years.[25]

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