Incidence of thyroid cancer in Abu Dhabi, UAE: A registry-based study

Abstract

Context: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. It is ranked second among females of the Gulf Cooperation Council States and the sixth most common cancer among the United Arab Emirates population.

Aims: We herein describe the incidence and distribution of different types of thyroid cancers and the demographic features of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Settings and Design: The study design was Abu Dhabi cancer registry and retrospective chart review.

Subjects and methods: This is a retrospective cancer registry description of patients with the different types of thyroid cancers diagnosed between January 2012 and December 2015 in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The incidence of thyroid cancer throughout the study period was calculated. Gender, age, ethnicity, and type of thyroid cancer were described.

Statistical analysis used: Descriptive statistics of patients' characteristics are reported as means (standard deviation) for continuous variables and total and relative frequencies (percentage) for categorical variables.

Results: The incidence of thyroid cancer was found to increase annually, reaching 7.9 cases per 100,000 population in 2015. A total of 603 patients were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 2012 to 2015. Of these, 431 (71.5%) were women and 172 (28.5%) were men. The overall mean age at diagnosis was 40.2 years. Over a third of the patients were between 30 and 39 years. The classical papillary thyroid cancer type was found in 67.7% of cases.

Conclusions: A substantial increase in thyroid cancer rates was found between 2012 and 2015. The majority of thyroid cancer cases were diagnosed in women between the ages of 30 and 39 years. Classical papillary thyroid cancer was the most common type.

Keywords: Epidemiology; United Arab Emirates; incidence; malignancy; thyroid.