Childhood Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer accounts for about 1.5 percent of all cancers in people age 0 to 19 in the United States. The incidence is higher in older teenagers. This form of childhood cancer is more common in whites than African Americans and in females than males.

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland with a right lobe and a left lobe at the base of the throat near the windpipe. Risk factors for childhood thyroid cancer include having a family history of thyroid cancer as well as exposure to radiation from diagnostics tests or treatments.

Childhood Thyroid Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)

Source: National Cancer Institute