Patterns of Thyroid Cancer Mortality and Incidence in Saudi Arabia: A 30-Year Study

Abstract

Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent endocrine cancer among the female population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the ninth most common in the male population in Saudi Arabia. Over the past years, an increasing incidence of thyroid cancer has been reported in Saudi Arabia. However, the etiology of thyroid cancer is still not clear. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate thyroid cancer incidence and mortality trends in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019. The current study utilized the Global Burden of Disease and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation databases to extract prevalence data of thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019. Moreover, the current project utilizes Global Burden of Disease (GBD) web-based tools to visualize these data. In total, 23,846 cases (17,220 females and 6626 males) were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019. The incidence is higher in females than in males. Over these 30 years, women's incidence steadily increased by 15-fold versus a 22-fold increase in men. Moreover, there were 2056 deaths in total caused by thyroid cancer in KSA. The mortality rate in women steadily increased by threefold in the same period. However, the increase in mortality was higher in males (sixfold). A high percentage of YLLs was observed in males, with around 24.8% ranging from 30 to 34 and 40 to 45 years. Thyroid cancer incidence rates have increased exponentially between 1990 and 2019. The expansion of the incidence of thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia could be due to the increased development in detection and diagnosis. The current study provided evidence of the need to increase awareness and diagnosis in the male population.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia; death; incidence; prevalence; retrospective study; thyroid cancer.

Figure 1

Increased incidence of thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia over the 30-year study period. The line chart illustrates the rate of cases diagnosed with thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019. The green line represents the total number of cases per year (male and female cases); the pink line represents the number of female cases per year; and the blue line represents the number of male cases per year. The red arrow highlights the point in which there were significant change in the increase of incidence rate in 2000 for female (left) and in 2005 for male (right).

Figure 2

An increase in the number of deaths caused by thyroid cancer over the 30-year study period. The line chart illustrates the number of deaths caused by thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019. The green line represents the total number of deaths caused by thyroid cancer per year (male and female cases); the pink line represents the number of deaths caused by thyroid cancer in females per year; and the blue line represents the number of deaths caused by thyroid cancer in males per year. The red arrow highlights the point in which there were significant change in the increase of death rate in 2000.

Figure 3

Age-group distribution of thyroid cancer incidence in 2019. Stacked columns show thyroid cancer incidence among males (blue) and females (pink) in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Red brackets highlight the highest-incidence age group.

Figure 4

Age-group distribution of thyroid cancer YLDs and YLLs in 2019. Stacked columns show thyroid cancer incidence among males (blue) and females (pink) in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Black brackets highlight the highest-mortality age group. The black arrows highlight the age groups with highest YLLs. The black brackets highlight the age groups with the highest YLDs.

Figure 5

Stage distribution of thyroid cancer among the Saudi population, 2017. Data adapted from the Saudi Arabia National Cancer Registry 2017.