Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma in adults may initiate from childhood / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

A total of 298577 children aged<18 years old in Fukuaka in Japan were screened for thyroid cancer after less than 3 years after nuclear accident. 110 children were diagnosed as thyroid cancer by fine needle aspiration cytology ( FNAC) and 87 cases received thyroid operation. The prevalence of thyroid cancer was 36. 8 / 100000 in population of<18 year old and 120 / 100000 at age of 16-18 years old. The 5th international expert symposium in Fukushima on radiation and health concluded that the high prevalence of thyroid cancer was not related with nuclear accident but to the screening. According to the findings, Willimas propsed a hypothesis: thyroid cancer in adults might originate from childhood. They had three stages for initiation and development of thyroid cancer initial mutation stage, constraint growth stage, and non-constraint growth stage. The growth of thyroid cancer were stopped in the constraint stage, which was thyroid microcarcinoma.