What are the causes of thyroid cancer?

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thyroid is part of the endocrine system and its function is to produce hormones that help regulate the metabolism of the body. In the thyroid gland, healthy cells usually grow, divide and then cease to be systematically divided. Thyroid cancer has its beginning when the cells lose the ability to stop reproducing and then die as normally, but instead it is constantly divided and multiplied when they are no longer needed, and eventually form a tumor. At the beginning of 2011, medical scientists did not notice the exact causes of thyroid cancer. Genes are considered to be playing a central role as one of the causes of thyroid cancer, but it was found that independent risk factors such as radiation, age and gender have also been found to develop thyroid cancer, so the relative importance of genes versus risk factors as the cause of thyroid cancer remained unclear.

There are four main types of thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular, anaplastic and medular. Papillary and folicular areBy far the most common types of thyroid cancer. In the case of these forms, medical scientists have shown that gene mutations are present in a significant percentage of these cancers. For anaplastic and medular forms of thyroid cancer, a genetic connection was also determined, but in a lower percentage of cases.

In addition to genetics, medical scientists identified several independent risk factors as the causes of thyroid cancer. The most common risk factors between the causes of thyroid cancer are exposures of radiation, family history and iodine deficiency. Gender, age and race are also known risk factors.

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exposure to a high level of radiation is a proven risk factor for thyroid cancer. Radiation treatment of head and neck for health reasons is one source of individuals who receive high doses of radiation. Fallout from testing and the use of nuclear weapons is another. And finally,Nuclear power plants may also cause exposure to radiation. The exposure of radiation as a child carries a greater risk than exposure during adulthood.

The family history of goiter, which is the benign enlargement of the thyroid gland, is a risk factor for thyroid cancer. Some inherited conditions, such as cowden disease, also increase the risk. Some forms of thyroid cancer run in families due to defective inherited genes. Diets that have too low iodine content are risk factors for cancer of papillary and follicular thyroid. Finally, women are more likely to develop thyroid cancer, as well as people who are over 40 years old, and in the United States are those who are white.