Temporal trends in thyroid cancer incidence

The incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) has increased dramatically over the last four decades in many parts of the world. We conducted a general population study to estimate incidence and describe its trends in the wilaya of Oran, Algeria, during the period 1993-2013. Between 1993 and 2013, 1,443 new cases of CT were diagnosed in the wilaya of Oran, 86.5% in women. The sex ratio was 6.4. The mean age at diagnosis was 43.7 14.8 years in women and 48.1 15.3 years in men. Standardized incidence per 100,000 was 11.7 in women and 2.0 in men. Our study confirms the trends observed in some Algerian wilayas, but also in many other countries, and places the wilaya of Oran among the regions of the world with a high incidence of TC. The increase in incidence observed is probably multifactorial. The organized correction of iodine deficiency instituted as early as 1992 to combat endemic goitre, has probably had an effect on the trends observed.