Thyroid cancer occurs in women 3-4 times more often than it occurs in men. Simply being a woman is therefore considered a risk factor for thyroid cancer.

When we talk about women being at increased risk for thyroid cancer, we are talking about small papillary thyroid cancers. When compared to other more aggressive thyroid cancers like medullary thyroid cancer or poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, the occurrence in women compared to men is almost equal.

The hypothesis behind this higher occurrence in women is 2 fold: the first being that estrogen is likely playing a role in papillary thyroid cancer and the second is that women historically seek medical care more often than men. Although there has been no direct causative link between higher estrogen levels and papillary thyroid cancer, it is the proposed hypothesis. Another factor to be considered is that women historically seek medical care more often. Therefore, women are getting scanned more often and incidental thyroid nodules are being found more often. These nodules are then getting biopsied which then diagnoses a woman’s papillary thyroid cancer.

Thyroid Cancer in Women

Thyroid Cancer and Fertility in Women

A woman having thyroid cancer does not affect a woman’s fertility. The reason for this is that, for the most part, having thyroid cancer does not affect thyroid hormone function. When a woman has thyroid cancer, they will need half of their thyroid removed or their whole thyroid removed. 50% of patients with half of their thyroid removed will have normal thyroid hormone function. The other 50% will need thyroid hormone supplementation. A total thyroid removal for thyroid cancer means that the patient will need full dose thyroid hormone replacement. If thyroid hormone is needed, it will be based on the woman’s body mass. As long as the thyroid hormone levels remains in normal range, women’s fertility will not be affected at all.

Thyroid Cancer and Pregnancy in Women

When a woman is diagnosed with thyroid cancer and is pregnant, the most common question is timing of thyroid surgery. The best time for women to have any surgery performed when they are pregnant is in the second trimester. The reason for this is that the major developmental milestones of the fetus has occurred in the first trimester. The baby is at least risk of anesthetic complications during the second trimester. When talking about thyroid cancer and pregnancy, it is important to note that thyroid cancer is a very slow growing cancer. Although thyroid surgery would be safe during the second trimester, we usually recommend to deliver the baby first and then have the surgery after the baby is born. Of course, if a woman was pregnant with a more aggressive type of thyroid cancer, then the second trimester would be the appropriate time to operate.

Thyroid Cancer and Prognosis in Women

With expert evaluation and surgery, the overall 5-year survival rate of thyroid cancer is 98% with long term survival being 95% or higher. Although being a woman is a risk factor for getting thyroid cancer, being a woman does not affect the prognosis of thyroid cancer. The 2 main risk factors that worsen the prognosis of thyroid cancer is male gender and age over 55.  Therefore, women have an overall better prognosis of thyroid cancer when compared to men. 

Additional Resources

• Become our patient by filling out the form at this link. 
• Learn more about The Clayman Thyroid Center here. 
• Learn more about our sister surgeons at the Scarless Thyroid Surgery Center, Norman Parathyroid Center, and Carling Adrenal Center
• Learn more about the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery.