Unfounded Reports on Thyroid Cancer

The incidence of thyroid cancer is on the rise in Korea as well as in the rest of the world. This is mainly due to the early detection of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) less than 1 cm in size with a high-resolution ultrasonography (USG). Why is its incidence abruptly increasing only in Korea? It is related to the unique Korean medical environment. People can easily visit any hospi-tal and can undergo USG as desired at a cost of 30-50 US dol-lars. Most hospitals have strengthened their health promotion programs since 2002, and thyroid USG has become an optional or obligatory examination. However, the incidence of larger thyroid cancers is also on the rise, and the annual incidence of childhood thyroid cancer also increased 2.5-fold during the past 10 years in Korea. Many experts have emphasized that the early detection with USG cannot completely explain the ob-served increase in thyroid cancer. Therefore, other possible ex-