Thyroid cancer cases high in South India: Study

A new study by the Indian Council of Medical Research, National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR-NCDIR) shows that the southern region shares the maximum caseload of thyroid cancer in India.

Thyroid cases in India from 96 hospital-based cancer registries reported for 2012-2019 were included in the study. Of the 10,521 thyroid cancer cases (males 3,340 and females 7,181), the highest proportion was reported from the South (57.5 per cent), followed by the North (17.4 per cent), West (15.3 per cent), North-east (4.8 per cent), East (3.8 per cent) and the Central region (1.3 per cent). The majority of cases were females (68.2 per cent), with a female-to-male ratio of 2.1:1.

Hospital-based cancer registries collect and maintain comprehensive data on all cancer patients diagnosed and treated at a specific hospital or facility.

“Among the total 10,521 cases, 58 per cent were from Kerala. Population-based studies also recorded a high burden in Kerala. The higher figures could be attributed to increased awareness and easy access to ultrasonography. In the present analysis, we observed that the relative proportion of thyroid cancer was approximately 52 per cent in those under 45,” the study ‘Region-wise pattern of demographic, clinicopathological and treatment profile of thyroid cancers from 96 hospital-based cancer registries in India’ said.

Regarding the waiting time from diagnosis to treatment, it was less than a week in 36 per cent of cases from the North and the lowest proportion in the East and the North-east (19 per cent). “However, the corresponding time was more than two months in 69.4 per cent in the West, 51.2 per cent in the East, 47 per cent in the North-East and 42 per cent in the South, according to the report.