Follicular thyroid cancer epidemiology and demographics

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ammu Susheela, M.D. [2]

The incidence of follicular thyroid cancer is estimated to be 0.82 per 100,000 individuals. Females are more commonly affected than males. The female to male ratio is approximately 3 to 1. The incidence of follicular thyroid cancer increases with age; the median age at diagnosis is 45 to 50 years.

• The incidence of follicular thyroid cancer in the USA is 0.82 per 100,000 person-years.
• The incidence of follicular thyroid cancer is 1.06 per 100,000 woman-years.
• The incidence of follicular thyroid cancer is 0.59 per 100,000 man-years.^[1]
• The American Cancer Society estimates:
  • Approximately 52,070 new cases of thyroid cancer in the US in the year 2019 with 73% and 27% of these cases in the female and male population, respectively.^[2]

• 9 of every 100 people with thyroid cancer have follicular thyroid cancer.^[3]

• Mortality rate of follicular thyroid cancer ranges from 5% to 15%.
• The American Cancer Society estimates:
  • Approximately 2170 deaths from thyroid cancer in the US in the year 2019 with 53% of these deaths involving women and 47% involving men.^[4]

• The median age at which follicular thyroid cancer is diagnosed is 45 to 50 years.

• Follicular thyroid cancer is 3 times more common in female than in males.^[5]