Asbestos and Thyroid Cancer | Is There a Link?

What We Know About Thyroid Cancer

The largest risk factors for thyroid cancer are radiation exposure and particular genetics.

According to the National Cancer Institute, thyroid cancer can come in different types. However, in its basic form thyroid cancer describes the process when cancerous cells form on the tissues of the thyroid gland, the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. This is an essential part of the human body, which helps produce hormones that regulate weight, temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. 

The NCI says that the risk factors for thyroid cancer have to do primarily with radiation exposure or genetics. The risk factors increase for females, those with an enlarged thyroid, and those between the ages of 25 and 65. While the American Thyroid Association says that thyroid cancer is still considered relatively uncommon compared to other forms of cancer such as breast and colon cancer, the Mayo Clinic cites that thyroid cancer rates have increased in recent years.

The link between asbestos and thyroid cancer is much less clear.

What you won’t find among the various resources related to thyroid cancer is a clear connection to asbestos. That’s because the evidence available to us so far has not been able to show a clear, direct link between asbestos and thyroid cancer. However, the issue is not as simple as it might sound at first. Because of this, these two should not be dismissed as entirely unrelated. In fact, where instances of thyroid cancer occur, asbestos exposure can often be involved as well. Here are several of the noteworthy studies that have been done over the last several decades, and the clues they give us in making the connection between thyroid cancer and asbestos exposure.

In the 1980s, inconclusive data suggested a connection between asbestos and cancer of the thyroid.

During the 1980s, a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine evaluated the mortality analysis of sheet metal workers and the kinds of cancer that are typically associated with asbestos exposure. Their analysis concluded that the four most frequently associated kinds of cancer with asbestos exposure still applied: lung, colon, rectum, and mesothelioma. While thyroid cancer did occur in small proportional mortality, it was too small to make a direct connection with asbestos exposure.

Possible Data in the Early 2000s

Other studies related to thyroid cancer have been conducted, including a significant study in 2001 on over 20,000 people in the San Francisco Bay area. The point of the study was to compile a wide range of risk factors and try to determine what the most significant percentages pointed to. Among the various demographics in the study, the link between those who had thyroid cancer with previous exposure to asbestos was inconclusive, especially compared to the high percentage of other risk factors such as body mass index.

A 2014 scandal poses some important questions about asbestos and cancer.

In 2014 a large environmental scandal in Austria prompted an examination of cancer rates between 1983 and 2012. The scandal had to do with hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a cancer-causing pesticide being exposed to the local population in high amounts. The cancer rates rose as a result, including liver, lung, kidney, thyroid and mesothelioma. However, the area was also an exposure site to asbestos, since a cement factory was in operation until the 1980s. 

Since the exposure time frame from asbestos can take as much as forty years to show symptoms, it is unclear whether the high rate of thyroid cancer is related to asbestos or HCB. Unfortunately, while this example does suggest a possible connection, it’s still inconclusive. 

What This Means for You

Part of the problem with identifying a link between asbestos and thyroid cancer is because of the fact that most asbestos illnesses can take years before they develop. Additionally, the typical way that people begin to experience symptoms related to asbestos exposure is not the noticeable issue of thyroid disease or cancer. Instead, the much more common pattern is pain related to lung disease, including mesothelioma. 

Asbestos can cause many health problems. That may not include thyroid cancer, but it includes other types of cancer and breathing problems.

When in doubt, get tested. 

While the possibility of a connection between thyroid cancer and asbestos exposure is still inconclusive, the most important first step to take if you are concerned with the possibility of asbestos exposure is to reach out to your healthcare provider. Staying ahead of the game is vitally important when it comes to asbestos exposure. Time is of the essence, and this is especially true when it comes to getting compensation for treatment as fast as possible. If you have any questions about this process, reach out to the experts at AsbestosClaims.law today.