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. 2021 Jul;10(13):4542-4554.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.3970. Epub 2021 May 18.

The global burden of thyroid cancer and its attributable risk factor in 195 countries and territories: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

Mimi Zhai  1 , Dan Zhang  2 , Jianhai Long  3 , Yi Gong  4 , Fei Ye  4 , Sushun Liu  4 , Yamin Li  2
Affiliations

The global burden of thyroid cancer and its attributable risk factor in 195 countries and territories: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

Mimi Zhai et al. Cancer Med. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is a growing threat to human health. Few studies have explored trends of thyroid cancer and relationships with social development factors. In this study, we explored the trend and relationship based on GBD.

Methods: By using GBD study, we obtained detailed data of thyroid cancer. Incidence, mortality and DALY were used to assess epidemiological characteristics. ASR and EAPC were used to estimate the trend.

Results: Globally, the incidence significantly increased from 1990 to 2017, especially in high-income regions. Males and middle SDI region demonstrated a higher increase of age-standardized incidence rates. Unlike incidence trend, mortality trend showed a minor increase, and even showed a decreasing trend in some regions such as Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the DALY trend also demonstrated a slightly increase with an EAPC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.73-0.81). More significant increase of DALY was found in males, middle SDI region and high-income Asia Pacific. The incidence of thyroid cancer peaked in middle-aged people, while the mortality and DALY peaked in elder-aged. Moreover, the proportion of thyroid cancer deaths contributable to high BMI was highest in developed countries and middle-aged people.

Conclusions: Thyroid cancer is a public health problem worldwide. Over-diagnosis might be partly responsible for its rising trend. It remains us to revise the guidelines to avoid unnecessary burdens. Moreover, we should pay attention to the risk factors of thyroid cancer. More targeted measures should be formulated to improve potential environmental and lifestyle-related factors which might contribute to rising trend of thyroid cancer.

Keywords: ASR; EAPC; GBD study; risk factor; thyroid cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The trend of thyroid cancer incidence, death, and DALY for 21 GBD regions by sex and age. The age‐standardized incidence (A), death(B), and DALY(C) rates of thyroid cancer by sex. The EAPC of age‐standardized incidence (D), death(E), and DALY(F) rates of thyroid cancer for 21 regions by sex from 1990 to 2017. Age‐specific counts and rate of incident cases (G), deaths (H), and DALYs (I) by sex in 2017
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Fraction of thyroid cancer age‐standardized deaths attributable to high BMI by regions (A) and age groups (B) for males and females in 2017
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The age‐standardized incidence (A), death (B), and DALY rates of thyroid cancer across 195 countries and territories by SDI in 2017
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The EAPC of age‐standardized incidence (A), death (B), and DALY rates of thyroid cancer across 195 countries and territories by SDI from 1990 to 2017
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Heatmaps for ASR and EAPCs on risk factor of thyroid cancer in 195 countries and territories in both sexes in 2017
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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