Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Nov;20(11):2369-76.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-11-0596. Epub 2011 Sep 13.

Thyroid cancer incidence among active duty U.S. military personnel, 1990-2004

Lindsey R Enewold  1 , Jing Zhou, Susan S Devesa, Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, William F Anderson, Shelia H Zahm, Alexander Stojadinovic, George E Peoples, Aizenhawar J Marrogi, John F Potter, Katherine A McGlynn, Kangmin Zhu
Affiliations

Thyroid cancer incidence among active duty U.S. military personnel, 1990-2004

Lindsey R Enewold et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Increases in thyroid papillary carcinoma incidence rates have largely been attributed to heightened medical surveillance and improved diagnostics. We examined papillary carcinoma incidence in an equal-access health care system by demographics that are related to incidence.

Methods: Incidence rates during 1990-2004 among white and black individuals aged 20 to 49 years in the military, and the general U.S. population were compared using data from the Department of Defense's Automated Central Tumor Registry and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER-9) program.

Results: Incidence was significantly higher in the military than in the general population among white women [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.25-1.61], black women (IRR = 2.31; 95% CI, 1.70-2.99), and black men (IRR = 1.69, 95% CI, 1.10-2.50). Among whites, differences between the two populations were confined to rates of localized tumors (women: IRR = 1.73, 95% CI, 1.47-2.00; men: IRR = 1.51, 95% CI, 1.30-1.75), which may partially be due to variation in staging classification. Among white women, rates were significantly higher in the military regardless of tumor size and rates rose significantly over time both for tumors ≤ 2 cm (military: IRR = 1.64, 95% CI, 1.18-2.28; general population: IRR = 1.55, 95% CI, 1.45-1.66) and > 2 cm (military: IRR = 1.74, 95% CI, 1.07-2.81; general population: IRR = 1.48, 95% CI, 1.27-1.72). Among white men, rates increased significantly only in the general population. Incidence also varied by military service branch.

Conclusions: Heightened medical surveillance does not appear to fully explain the differences between the two populations or the temporal increases in either population.

Impact: These findings suggest the importance of future research into thyroid cancer etiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Cancer Society . Cancer Facts and Figures 2010. American Cancer Society; Atlanta: 2010.
    1. Altekruse SF, Kosary CL, Krapcho M, Neyman N, Aminou R, Waldron W, et al. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2007. National Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD: [Accessed 11/15/2010]. Available from: http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2007/ </csr/1975_2007/>.
    1. Hall P, Adami HO. Thyroid Cancer. In: Adami HO, Hunter D, Trichopoulos D, editors. Textbook of Cancer Epidemiology. Oxford University Press; New York: 2002. pp. 504–19.
    1. Burgess JR, Tucker P. Incidence trends for papillary thyroid carcinoma and their correlation with thyroid surgery and thyroid fine-needle aspirate cytology. Thyroid. 2006;16(1):47–53. - PubMed
    1. Colonna M, Guizard AV, Schvartz C, Velten M, Raverdy N, Molinie F, et al. A time trend analysis of papillary and follicular cancers as a function of tumour size: a study of data from six cancer registries in France (1983-2000) Eur J Cancer. 2007;43(5):891–900. - PubMed

Publication types