The Thyroid Cancer Over-Diagnosis Issue

Thyroid cancer over-diagnosis is, according to this release, a serious issue in population-wide screening for thyroid cancer. This week there has been several articles on the over-diagnosis of thyroid cancer. The first article explains how slow growing tumors are removed when it’s not necessary.

The USPSTF estimates that thyroid cancer will account for only 3.8 of cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2016. The benefits are, furthermore, outweighed by the harms of screening and treatment, which can leave patients with debilitating, lifelong health problems.

Asymptomatic Thyroid Cancer Screening

This article shares how difficult is for patients to enroll in cancer specific clinical trials.

In rare diseases with limited populations — like anaplastic thyroid cancer — finding and enrolling in a clinical process can be a long and difficult process for patients, says Maria Cabanillas, M.D. “We need to work very hard to speed this up because these patients need effective therapies, and they need them now,” says Cabanillas, associate professor, department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. – See more at: http://www.curetoday.com/articles/speed-up-trials-effective-therapies-are-needed-for-anaplastic-thyroid-cancer#sthash.GyH7Yqy1.dpuf

Speed Up Thyroid Cancer Trials

Thyroid cancer over-diagnosis seems to be a problem all over the world. The following story is about the drop in thyroid cancer surgeries in Korea.

Thyroid cancer is among the least deadly types of cancers. The five-year survival rate – the percentage of those that survive five years after the initial diagnosis – is 99.9 percent for all patients. Given these facts, this “epidemic” of thyroid cancer was also seen as an unprecedented phenomenon in medical circles around the world.

Korean Thyroid Cancer Rates Drop After Criticism