Differences in Thyroid Cancer Trends between New York and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database

Abstract

Objectives: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in the United States. The objective of this study was to examine regional trends in thyroid cancer in New York (NY) and compare results with national trends in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Methods: Thyroid malignancies were identified between 2000-2009 from the NY State Cancer Registry and SEER-18 database. Incidence rates were determined for subgroups, including age cohorts, race, histologic subtype, and stage. Annual percent change (APC) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CI) between subgroups. Results: IRR was significant between NY and SEER in the overall group (1.23, CI 1.21-1.24, P < 0.0001), whites (1.26, CI 1.23-1.28, P < 0.0001), Asians (1.30, CI 1.23-1.37, P = 0.0001), blacks (1.12, CI 1.06-1.17, P = 0.0002), age cohort 10-24 (1.26, CI 1.18-1.34, P = 0.0003), age cohort 25-44 (1.25, CI 1.22-1.28, P < 0.0001), age cohort 45-64 (1.25, CI 1.22-1.27, P < 0.0001), age cohort 65-84 (1.15, CI 1.11-1.19, P < 0.0001), age cohort 85+ (1.27, CI 1.10-1.39, P = 0.003), local (1.21, CI 1.18-1.23, P < 0.0001), regional (1.24, CI 1.20-1.28, P < 0.0001), and papillary (1.23, CI 1.21-1.25, P < 0.0001). There were also significant increases in APC in these subgroups. Conclusions: Thyroid cancer incidence has been increasing overall between 2000-2009 in both NY and the SEER database. However, rates in NY are significantly increased for select subgroups, especially among white and Asian females between 25-64 years. Physicians treating patients in these subgroups should be aware of the increased incidence of thyroid cancer and have a higher index of suspicion to monitor for potential malignancy.