Recent Changes in the Incidence of Thyroid Cancer in Korea between 2005 and 2018: Analysis of Korean National Data

Abstract

Backgruound: In this study, we evaluated the recent changes in the standardized, age-specific, stage-specific incidence rates (IRs) of thyroid cancer in Korea and compared them with the incidence data reported by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.

Methods: The analysis was conducted using the incidence data (2005 to 2018) from the Statistics Korea and Korea Central Cancer Registry.

Results: The age-standardized IR (SIR) of thyroid cancer increased from 24.09 per 100,000 in 2005 to 74.83 in 2012 (annual percent change [APC], 14.5). From 2012 to 2015, the SIR decreased to 42.52 (APC, -17.9) and then remained stable until 2018 (APC, 2.1). This trend was similar in both men and women. Regarding age-specific IRs, the IRs for ages of 30 years and older showed a trend similar to that of the SIR; however, for ages below 30 years, no significant reduction was observed from the vertex of IR in 2015. Regarding stage-specific IRs, the increase was more prominent in those with regional disease (APC, 17.4) than in those with localized disease until 2012; then, the IR decreased until 2015 (APC, -16.1). The average APC from 2005 to 2018 increased in men, those under the age of 30 years, and those with regional disease.

Conclusion: The SIR in Korea peaked in 2012 and decreased until 2015 and then remained stable until 2018. However, in young individuals under the age of 30 years, the IR did not significantly decrease but tended to increase again. In terms of stage-specific IRs, the sharpest increase was seen among those with regional disease.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Incidence; Korea; Thyroid neoplasms.

Fig. 1.

Standardized incidence rates (SIRs) of thyroid cancer (A) in Korea, and annual percent change of the SIR in Korea in (B) total, (C) male, and (D) female. (E) The SIR in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) data. APC, annual percent change; IR, incidence rate. ^aIndicates that the APC is significantly different from zero at the alpha=0.05 level.

Fig. 2.

Age-specific thyroid cancer incidence rates (A) in Korea, and annual percent change of the age-specific incidence in Korea by age groups: (B) <20, (C) 20–29, (D) 30–39, (E) 40–49, (F) 50–59, (G) 60–69, and (H) ≥70 years. (I) Age-specific thyroid cancer incidence rates in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) data. APC, annual percent change; IR, incidence rate. ^aIndicates that the APC is significantly different from zero at the alpha=0.05 level.

Fig. 3.

Stage-specific thyroid cancer incidence rates (A) in Korea, and annual percent change of the stage-specific incidence in Korea according to the stage groups: (B) regional, (C) localized, and (D) distant. (E) Stage-specific thyroid cancer incidence rates in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) data. APC, annual percent change; IR, incidence rate. ^aIndicates that the APC is significantly different from zero at the alpha=0.05 level.