Trends in Thyroid Cancer Incidence in the Gulf Cooperation Council States
Introduction
Malignant endocrine tumors commonly occur worldwide and include thyroid cancer. In terms of new cases and deaths in 2008, thyroid cancer ranked as the 11th most common type of cancer, according to GLOBOCAN (2018). Thyroid cancer had 567,233 new cases (3.1% of all cancer cases) in 2018, compared to 41,071 new deaths (0.4% of all cancer cases). 2018 (Bray et al.). Globally, the prevalence of thyroid cancer has been rising, with new cases rising from 2.1% in 2012 (Grimm, 2017) to 3.1% in 2018. (Bray et al., 2018). Research has identified some risk factors for thyroid cancer, including comorbid conditions like chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as environmental and lifestyle factors like increased iodine intake, radiation, nitrates, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor diet (Liu, Su, &Xiao, 2017). The apparent increase in thyroid cancer cases may be due to better detection methods, like biopsy and imaging, or a natural rise in the incidence of thyroid cancer (Liu, Su, &Xiao, 2017).
The prevalence of thyroid cancer in the Gulf states is the main topic of the current study. Except for Bahrain and Kuwait, thyroid cancer was the second most prevalent cancer in the Gulf States in 2002. Thyroid cancer was ranked the third most prevalent type in Bahrain and Kuwait (Al-Zahrani & Ravichandran, 2007). According to a systematic review, the incidence was 6.18% in Libya and 47.34% in Saudi Arabia (Al Shahrani et al., 2016). Like other regions of the world, the Gulf region has a high thyroid cancer rate, possibly due to embracing western culture (Al Shahrani et al., 2016).
It is essential to conduct another analysis of the problem because there is little information available about the prevalence of thyroid cancer throughout the Gulf region (Al Shahrani et al., 2016). Evaluating and keeping track of the Gulf region’s thyroid cancer incidence rate is critical. Additionally, it is critical to identify current patterns and changes in cancer incidence over time (Al-Othman et al., 2015).