It’s estimated that nearly 57,000 new cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017, a far lower number than many other adult cancers, like colorectal, lung, breast and prostate.¹  However, the number is noteworthy because it has risen significantly in recent years.

Rates of thyroid cancer have tripled in the last decade, making it — papillary thyroid cancer in particular — the most rapidly increasing cancer in the U.S.²

While part of this rise is blamed on the increased use of thyroid ultrasound detecting small thyroid nodules that may otherwise have gone undiagnosed, environmental factors may also be playing a role.

In fact, a study published in JAMA in March 2017 revealed that the overall incidence of thyroid cancer increased 3 percent annually in the U.S. from 1974 to 2013, representing a true increase.3

Dr. Julie Ann Sosa, chief of endocrine surgery at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, led a recent study on the topic, which suggests flame retardant chemicals may be involved. She said at a press briefing:⁴

“There is a pandemic of thyroid cancer around the world … For too long, we’ve ascribed this to [sic] entirely to overdiagnosis, so we are restricting screening … [Studies like this] suggest we should be redirected to understanding what additional causative factors are at play.”