title: The clinical and economic burden of a sustained increase in thyroid cancer incidence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thyroid cancer incidence is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate, yet little is known of the impact this increase will have on society. We sought to determine the clinical and economic burden of a sustained increase in thyroid cancer incidence in the United States and to understand how these burdens correlate with the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) prioritization of thyroid cancer research funding.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the NCI's SEER 13 database (1992-2009) and Joinpoint regression software to identify the current clinical burden of thyroid cancer and to project future incidence through 2019. We combined Medicare reimbursement rates with American Thyroid Association guidelines, and our clinical practice to create an economic model of thyroid cancer. We obtained research-funding data from the NCI's Office of Budget and Finance. RESULTS; By 2019, papillary thyroid cancer will double in incidence and become the third most common cancer in women of all ages at a cost of $18 to $21 billion dollars in the United States. Despite these substantial clinical and economic burdens, thyroid cancer research remains significantly underfunded by comparison, and in 2009 received only $14.7 million (ranked 30th) from the NCI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impact of thyroid cancer on society has been significantly underappreciated, as is evidenced by its low priority in national research funding levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased awareness in the medical community and the general public of the societal burden of thyroid cancer, and substantial increases in research on thyroid cancer etiology, prevention, and treatment are needed to offset these growing concerns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Studies, Center for Health and the Social Sciences, Program in the Economics of Cancer, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Briseis
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aschebrook-Kilfoy
authors.forename: Rebecca B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Schechter
authors.forename: Ya-Chen Tina
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Edwin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Brian C-H
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angelos
authors.forename: Raymon H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Grogan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018426:SEER Program; D012737:Sex Factors; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology