Thyroid cancer detected by mass screening over a period of 16 years at a health care center in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
I studied the incidence and characteristics of thyroid cancers detected during mass screening over a period of 16 years at a health care center.


METHODS
The subjects were 88 160 people (48 232 men and 39 928 women) who visited Kochi Kenshin Clinic between January 1989 and March 2005. Each person was initially examined by inspection and manipulation of the thyroid glands, then by ultrasonography if there were abnormal thyroid findings. They were referred to a surgeon specializing in thyroid surgery, depending on the ultrasonographic findings.


RESULTS
Malignant thyroid tumors were detected in 204 subjects (62 men and 142 women), resulting in a detection rate of 0.44% (men 0.24%: women 0.69%) for absolute subjects (25,797 men: 20,636 women). This was considered favorable compared with other reported results of thyroid examinations using ultrasonography. The rates of cancer in nodular lesions and metastasis were higher in men than in women.


CONCLUSIONS
Manipulation is adequate as an initial screening method for thyroid examination, and ultrasonography may not always be required. Moreover, it is necessary to consider gender when referring a patient to a specialist and when deciding on the indications for surgery to remove a thyroid tumor.
Suehiro
Fumie
F
Kochi Kenshin Clinic, Chiyori-cho 2-4-36, Kochi, 780-0806, Japan.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*