Increased Prevalence Of Thyroid Cancer In Volcanic Regions

A new-fangled study that lately appeared online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute points out that those individuals residing in volcanic regions might be at a heightened risk of developing thyroid cancer.

The rising occurrences of thyroid cancer have been credited to the highly sensitised screening procedures, however lately proofs suggest that this might not be the singular reason. Varied environmental features, like those linked to volcanoes, have not yet been expelled as risk factors.

In order to research this aspect, Gabriella Pellegriti, M.D., Ph.D., from the endocrinology branch, University of Catania Medical School, Garibaldi-Nesima Hospital located in Italy and associates gathered numbers of lately detected thyroid cancer cases in those residing in Sicily from January 1, 2002 till December 31, 2004 for comparing the rate of cancer occurrences in those inhabitants existing in the volcanic region of Mt. Etna of Catania in comparison to those residing in the rest of Sicily.

The researchers detected that inhabitants from the Catania province were observed to have more than 2 times increased frequency of papillary thyroid cancer, though not follicular or medullary thyroid cancers, than those residing in other parts of the island. Additionally, papillary tumors in patients from Catania had the more recurrently carrying BRAF V600 gene mutation that has been linked with a more belligerent form of thyroid cancer.

The author pointed out to the crucial aspect that a volcanic setting wherein there was production of lethal compounds that lie as hanging particulate material, gases and constituents could contaminate the water – and could raise the occurrence of thyroid cancer cases, though the means through which it had a bearing on the risk is still unclear.

The authors have penned down the crucial aspect that the conspicuous rise in papillary thyroid cancer occurrence that is linked to the Etna volcanic setting has lead them to imply that inhabitants of other volcanic regions could analogously be at a heightened risk of developing thyroid cancer, and probably, of others kinds of cancers too.

The authors further mentioned that in spite of definite risk factors for thyroid cancer in this volcanic location are still fuzzy; recognition of these factors could assist in gaining a better insight into the reasons of the rising cases of thyroid cancer in Europe and North America and possibly aid in developing deterrence methods.

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