Thyroid cancer is the 19th most common cancer in the UK (2014), accounting for 1% of all new cases. In males, it is the 19th most common cancer (less than 1% of the male total), whilst in females it is the 16th most common cancer (1% of the female total).[1-4]
In 2014, there were 3,404 new cases of thyroid cancer in the UK: 966 (28%) in males and 2,438 (72%) in females, giving a male:female ratio of around 4:10.[1-4] The 
shows that there are 3 new thyroid cancer cases for every 100,000 males in the UK, and 7 for every 100,000 females.
Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers which can occur in both sexes but is more common in females than males. This is at least partly due to sex differences in exposure to risk factors. The European incidence rates (AS rates) are significantly lower in Wales compared with England and Scotland. For females, rates are significantly higher in England compared with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are no significant differences between the other constituent countries of the UK.[1-4]
Thyroid Cancer (C73), Number of New Cases, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2014
| England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | UK | ||
| Male | Cases | 826 | 31 | 90 | 19 | 966 |
| Crude Rate | 3.1 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 3.0 | |
| AS Rate | 3.4 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 3.3 | |
| AS Rate - 95% LCL | 3.1 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 3.1 | |
| AS Rate - 95% UCL | 3.6 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | |
| Female | Cases | 2,115 | 92 | 177 | 54 | 2,438 |
| Crude Rate | 7.7 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 7.4 | |
| AS Rate | 7.9 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 7.6 | |
| AS Rate - 95% LCL | 7.6 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 7.3 | |
| AS Rate - 95% UCL | 8.2 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 7.9 | |
| Persons | Cases | 2,941 | 123 | 267 | 73 | 3,404 |
| Crude Rate | 5.4 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.3 | |
| AS Rate | 5.7 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.1 | 5.5 | |
| AS Rate - 95% LCL | 5.5 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 5.3 | |
| AS Rate - 95% UCL | 5.9 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper around the
For thyroid cancer, like most cancer types, differences between countries largely reflect risk factor prevalence in years past.
References
- Data were provided by the Office for National Statistics on request, June 2016. Similar data can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/cancerregistrationstatisticsengland/previousReleases.
- Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, May 2016. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/.
- Data were provided by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales on request, June 2016. Similar data can be found here: http://www.wcisu.wales.nhs.uk.
- Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, May 2016. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
About this data
Data is for: UK, 2014, ICD-10 C73
