Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid Cancer - Causes and Risk Factors

It is not clear what causes thyroid cancer, but factors that may increase the risk of thyroid cancers include:

Being female – thyroid cancer affects more women than men
A family history of thyroid cancer
Exposure to high levels of radiation – e.g. radiation therapy
Certain inherited genetic conditions such as familial medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia, Cowden syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis