This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Frich, L. Articles by Akslen, L. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Frich, L. Articles by Akslen, L. A.

Familial Occurrence of Nonmedullary Thyroid Cancer: A Population-based Study of 5673 First-Degree Relatives of Thyroid Cancer Patients from Norway¹

Department of Pathology, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen, N-5021 Bergen (L. F., L. A. A.) and The Cancer Registry of Norway, Montebello, Oslo (E. G.), Norway

The purpose of this study was to estimate the occurrence of familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC) in a large population-based study. Of the 5274 cases of thyroid cancer on record in the Norwegian Cancer Registry between 1960 and 1995, a total of 1025 patients could be identified with verified thyroid cancer, a unique personal identification number, and a link to at least one parent. For patients with nonmedullary carcinoma, 5457 first-degree relatives in 970 families were found, compared with 216 first-degree relatives in 37 families for the medullary cancers. A standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated among the relatives based on rates from the Cancer Registry of Norway. A significantly increased risk of thyroid cancer was found among the 5457 relatives of nonmedullary index cases, both for males [SIR, 5.2; confidence interval (CI), 2.1–10.7; 7 cases] and females (SIR, 4.9; CI, 3.0–7.7; 19 cases). All of these 26 thyroid cancer cases were of the nonmedullary type. Furthermore, an increased risk was found among 4282 relatives of papillary index cases, for both males (SIR, 5.8; CI, 2.1–12.6; 6 cases) and females (SIR, 4.0; CI, 2.1–7.1; 12 cases). The 36 familial papillary thyroid cancer patients had an average age at diagnosis of 43 years. Genetic influence is probably only modest for the familial nonmedullary cases and clearly weaker than for the classic familial type of medullary thyroid cancer.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Hemminki, C. Eng, and B. Chen Familial Risks for Nonmedullary Thyroid Cancer J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2005; 90(10): 5747 - 5753. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]