Weight change is significantly associated with risk of thyroid cancer: A nationwide population-based cohort study

Obesity is a risk factor for many cancers including breast, esophageal, colon, and thyroid cancer. We aimed to evaluate the association of thyroid cancer with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and weight change. This nationwide population-based cohort study included 11,323,006 adults who joined the national health screening program. Weight change was defined as the difference between the weight of the subjects measured during the study period and the weight at the time of four years ago. For evaluating the association between the weight change and the risk of thyroid cancer, subjects without weight change for four years were defined as the reference group. Mean age was 50.1 ± 13.7 years and 44% were female. In total, 50,464 subjects (0.4%) had newly-diagnosed thyroid cancer. After multivariable analyses, the incidence of thyroid cancer increased significantly in subjects with larger WC as well as higher BMI (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). In subjects who were lean and became obese, the incidence of thyroid cancers increased significantly (hazard ratio [HR] 1.15 [1.11–1.19]). In subjects who were obese and became lean, the incidence of thyroid cancers decreased significantly (HR 0.89 [0.86–0.93]). These results demonstrated that higher BMI and larger WC were significantly associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. Weight gain in lean subjects was associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer, and weight reduction in subjects with obesity was associated with a decreased risk of thyroid cancer.