Thyroid cancer on the rise

A little more than a year ago, Amber Skipper had no idea what the thyroid did. Then her baby head-butted her in the neck. The spot swelled, and Skipper, now 29, couldn't talk.

In the following weeks, she became an expert about the gland, which helps regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and weight. Doctors diagnosed her with thyroid cancer, which is three times more common in women than men.

The Westfield mother is part of a trend that baffles medical researchers. Thyroid cancer, which affects about 11 people per 100,000 each year, seems to be on the rise.

National Cancer Institute statistics suggest that in recent years the number of cases of this often curable cancer has increased by about 6.5%. Over a decade, this has added up to make thyroid cancer the fastest-rising cancer, said Dr. Tod Huntley, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon with the Center for Ear, Nose, Throat and Allergy in Carmel, Ind."Ten years ago, if I saw four new thyroid cancer patients a year, it would have been a lot," said Dr. G. Irene Minor, a radiation oncologist with Indiana University Health Central Indiana Cancer Center. "Now, sometimes I see that many in a month, and I have seen three in a week."

Thyroid cancer is more common in women younger than 45, Minor said. Doctors don't know why that's the case, but thyroid problems in general - such as hyper- or hypo-thyroidism - are more common in women.

Why is it more prevalent?

Experts remain divided on the cause of the increase.

Thyroid Cancer Basics Thyroid cancer is fairly uncommon, accounting for only 1.2% of all new cancers in the United States annually. Although thyroid cancer is still a cancer that requires treatment and lifelong monitoring, and can have debilitating effects on patients, survival rates are, high, with 95% of all thyroid cancer patients achieving what would be considered a cure, or long-term survival without reoccurrence.

Thyroid cancer affects women two to three times more than men. Besides what appears to be a hormonal or gender connection, the causes of thyroid cancer are, for the most part, not known.

There are four types of thyroid cancer: Papillary, Follicular, Medullary, and Anaplastic.

Papillary cancer is the most common type of cancer, perhaps because papillaries are quite common in the thyroid gland. Papillary cancer mostly involves one side of the thyroid and sometimes spreads into the lymph nodes. The cure rate is very high.

Follicular cancer, the second most common type of thyroid cancer, is somewhat more malignant than papillary. The thyroid gland is comprised of follicles which produce thyroid hormones that are essential for growth and development of all body tissues. This cancer doesn't usually spread to the lymph nodes, but it may spread to arteries and veins of thyroid gland and more distantly (lung, bone, skin, etc), though that is uncommon. Follicular cancer is more common in older people. Again, the long -term survival rate is high.