Incidence Rates of Thyroid Cancer: Japan

This figure shows annual changes in incidence rates (percentage of patients against the population during a certain period of time) and mortality rates concerning thyroid cancer in Japan.

The incidence rates of thyroid cancer have been on a rise both for males and females in Japan. The increasing trend is more notable among females and the incidence rate, which was around three per 100,000 people in 1975, exceeded 13 in 2013. In the meantime, the mortality rate from thyroid cancer has not shown any significant changes and has been slightly decreasing both for males and females. The total incidence rate of thyroid cancer including both males and females per 100,000 people in 2010 was approx. 15 in America, approx. 60 in South Korea, and approx. 8 in Japan (p.124 of Vol. 1, "Incidence Rates of Thyroid Cancer: Overseas").

In Japan, palpation by doctors has long been conducted broadly as thyroid cancer screening, but ultrasound neck examination is increasingly being adopted in complete medical checkups and mass-screening. Furthermore, thanks to recent advancement of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, diagnostic capacity has been improving and the detection rate of tumoral lesions, in particular, is said to be increasing.

* Source: Hiroki Shimura, Journal of the Japan Thyroid Association, 1 (2), 109-113, 2010-10

• Included in this reference material on March 31, 2017