What are the causes of thyroid cancer?

What are the causes of thyroid cancer? Modern people no longer have to worry about having enough food and clothing, so they pay more attention to the care of their image and health. After all, nothing is more important than good health. For common malignant diseases such as thyroid cancer, more people have begun to pay attention. So, what are the causes of thyroid cancer?

1. Radiation damage

Irradiating the thyroid gland of experimental mice with X-rays can cause thyroid cancer in animals. Experiments have shown that 131I can change the metabolism of thyroid cells, deform the nucleus, and greatly reduce the synthesis of thyroid hormone. It can be seen that radiation can cause abnormal division of thyroid cells, leading to cancer; on the other hand, it can damage the thyroid gland and prevent it from producing endocrine hormones. The resulting large amount of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) secretion can also promote thyroid cell cancer.

Clinically, many facts show that the occurrence of thyroid cancer is related to the effects of radiation. It is particularly noteworthy that children who have received upper mediastinum or neck radiotherapy for thymus enlargement or lymphadenopathy in infancy are more likely to develop thyroid cancer. This is because the cells of children and adolescents proliferate vigorously, and radiation is an additional stimulus that can easily promote the formation of tumors. It is rare for adults to develop thyroid cancer after receiving neck radiotherapy.

(II) Iodine and TSH

Excessive or insufficient iodine intake can change the structure and function of the thyroid gland. For example, the incidence of thyroid cancer in the endemic goiter-endemic area of ​​Switzerland is 2‰, which is 20 times higher than that in non-endemic areas such as Berlin. On the contrary, a high-iodine diet is also prone to induce thyroid cancer. Iceland and Japan are countries with the highest iodine intake, and their thyroid cancer detection rates are higher than those in other countries. This may be related to the factors that stimulate TSH to proliferate the thyroid gland. Experiments have shown that long-term TSH stimulation can promote thyroid hyperplasia, form nodules and cancer.

(III) Other thyroid diseases

Clinically, there are reports of thyroid adenocarcinoma, chronic thyroiditis, nodular goiter or some toxic goiters becoming cancerous, but the relationship between these thyroid lesions and thyroid cancer is still difficult to confirm. Taking thyroid adenoma as an example, the vast majority of thyroid adenomas are follicular, and only 2% are papillary; if thyroid cancer is transformed from adenoma, the vast majority should be follicular, but in fact more than half of thyroid cancers are papillary, so it is speculated that the incidence of thyroid adenoma cancer is also very small.

(IV) Genetic factors

About 5% to 10% of medullary thyroid cancers have a clear family history and are often combined with pheochromocytoma and other intercalary diseases. It is speculated that the occurrence of this type of cancer may be related to chromosomal genetic factors.

Through the above understanding, we know the causes of thyroid disease. I hope it can bring some help to everyone. We must pay attention to it in life, stay away from these causes, develop good living habits, and constantly enhance our physical fitness. Only in this way can we more effectively prevent the occurrence of the disease.