Statistics About Thyroid Cancer

Some people use statistics to try to figure out their chances of getting or curing cancer. You should remember that statistics show what happens with large groups of people. No two people are alike. You can't use this information to know or predict what will happen to you.

These are the 2012 statistics from the American Cancer Society:

• Doctors will diagnose about 56,460 new cases of thyroid cancer.

• Thyroid cancer occurs more often in women. Three in four cases occur in women. 

• About 43,210 cases of new thyroid cancers will be diagnosed in women. The other 13,250 will be found in men.

• Thyroid cancer rates have risen sharply in recent years. It is the fastest-increasing cancer in both men and women.

• Thyroid cancer has a 97 percent survival rate at the five-year mark. This means that out of every 100 people treated for thyroid cancer, 97 of them will be alive five years after treatment. Survival, however, is affected by many factors, including stage at diagnosis, the subtype of cancer, and patient age. 

• About 1,000 women and 780 men will die of thyroid cancer.