Too Much Information

Thyroid cancer epidemic? No. Overdiagnosis epidemic? Yes.

The findings, published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, has revealed that the reported number of cases of thyroid cancer rose from 4.9 to 14.2 for every 100,000 people. The increase was greater in women than in men, although the death rate for thyroid cancer for the period covering 1975 through 2009 remained stable at 0.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.
The study has also found that the increase of incidence in thyroid cancer diagnoses can be attributed to the detection of small papillary cancer, which is a less aggressive form of cancer, and not likely to cause death or disease. For the researchers, this translates to an epidemic of over-diagnosis, which in turn raises the question of whether all cancers, regardless of gravity, required aggressive treatment.

Yes, screening tests seem to be in everyone's best interest- except the patients.