Korean J Med.  2009 Nov;77(5):537-542.

Incidence and clinical characteristics of thyroid cancer in Korea

• Ahn HY
• Park YJ

Abstract

The incidence of thyroid cancer is steadily increasing in many countries including Korea. Especially in Korea, the incidence of thyroid cancer is very rapidly increasing during several decades; from 2005 Annual Report of the Korea Center Cancer Registry, thyroid cancer ranked the fifth among all cancers (incidence rate was 8.9%). Moreover the incidence of thyroid cancer was 16.7% in female and now thyroid cancer was reported the most common cancer in Korean female. Among several thyroid cancers, papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is rapidly increasing due to the increased detection of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PMC). Until now, PMC showed little significant differences among clinical characteristics or prognosis compared with PTC, thus the optimal treatment strategy of PMC remains controversial. Therefore, to establish the optimal treatment and follow up program about thyroid cancer, we should investigate clinical characteristics, prognosis and predictive factors of PMC more closely.

Keyword

Thyroid cancer; Korea; Incidence; Clinical characteristics

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Papillary
Factor IX
Female
Humans
Incidence
Korea
Prognosis
Thyroid Gland
Thyroid Neoplasms
Carcinoma, Papillary
Factor IX
Thyroid Neoplasms