Rapid Increase Of Thyroid Cancer Cases In The United States Are Alarming

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Thyroid cancer is among the most curable and least deadly forms of cancer. But a new study found that such case is increasing rapidly than any other cancer in the United States.

The case of thyroid cancer diagnosed each year elevated more than three times between 1975 and 2013, Live Science reported. In the latest research, scientists debated that the terrifying increase is not just due to an improved detection technique of the disease.

Nevertheless, the new study eventually described that the cancer is really a growing risk. This idea is based on the expanding case of the condition called advanced stage papillary thyroid cancer, which progresses along with a constant increase of deaths.

According to the study published on March 31 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers provided possible causes of an increased thyroid cancer cases. On factor is the progression of obesity rates in the United States.

Another surprising cause is a reduced smoking habit. This might be weird, but the researchers discovered smoking to be linked with a 30 to 40 percent lesser chance of developing thyroid cancer.

The last possible factor is an exposure to a group of certain chemicals and pollutants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). In fact, these compounds include flammable-resistant chemicals found within the environment, at homes and even in foods. The study presented that PBDEs can interrupt functions of the thyroid gland and other glands in the human endocrine system thus causing thyroid cancer.

"Certain environmental pollutants could be a factor since we're receiving so much exposure to chemicals that could be endocrine-disruptive," Cari Kitahara, senior author of the study said. She is also an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute.

The serious concern is that PBDEs are unfortunately found everywhere. Therefore, verifying an association between exposure to the chemicals, and a rapid increase of thyroid cancer is an extra challenge, Kitahara added.