Thyroid cancer is a cause of medical, disability, long-term care and death risk that seems to be becoming more common in the United States, and no one is sure why.
The term "thyroid cancer" refers to a number of different types of cancer, including multiple types of papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer.
The rate of thyroid cancer increases in areas exposed to high levels of radiation. Scientists believe genetics, nonradioactive substances in the environment may also play a role.
The U.S. thyroid cancer rate might be increasing because of a change in the environment or population genetics, or the official rate might be increasing simply because doctors are doing a better job of noticing the condition and reporting it.
Whatever the reason, the median age-adjusted incidence of thyroid cancer rate for U.S. states increased to 14 cases per 100,000 people in 2012, from 6.7 cases per 100,000 people in 1999, according to U.S. Cancer Statistics, 1999-2012, a collection of data gathered by the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group.
In 2012, the rate ranged from a low of 8.6 cases per 100,000 lives in Alabama to a high of more than 20 per 100,000 in two states.
In 1999, the earliest year for which comparable data is available in the same database, the range was 4.5 cases per 100,000 to 11.1 cases per 100,000.
For a look at the seven states with the highest incidence rates, and a table of data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, read on:
A dock in Newport, Rhode Island. (Photo: Thinkstock)
7. Rhode Island
Thyroid cancer incidence per 100,000 persons: 19.
A farm in northwestern New Jersey. (Photo: Allison Bell/LHP)
6. New Jersey
Thyroid cancer incidence per 100,000 persons: 19.2.
A subway station entrance in New York City. (Photo: Allison Bell/LHP)
5. New York
Thyroid cancer incidence per 100,000 persons: 19.2.
