Papillary thyroid carcinoma in Denmark 1943-68. I. Incidence and clinical features

On the basis of nation-wide Danish data on 1691 cases of thyroid carcinoma during the years 1943-1968, the author reports on 416 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma reported to the Danish Cancer Registry. Diagnosis was made prior to surgery in about 40% of the cases, in accordance with previous experience. Papillary thyroid carcinoma tends to be less frequent in Denmark than elsewhere, contrary to the assumption of an increased occurrence in areas where goitre is not endemic. For thyroid carcinoma age-adjusted male incidence rates are lowest in Denmark and Great Britain, while female rates for Denmark are second lowest, being lower only in Great Britain. On the other hand, age-adjusted mortality rates are higher in Denmark than in any other country. These findings are discussed. In the past decade the annual number of reported cases has been constant, indicating that the incidence is stationary, although interest in a knowledge of C.T. is on the increase.