23rd May 2025

Aetiology and risk factors

There are some genetic associations with thyroid carcinomas:
- Medullary type is known to be associated with MEN2 (RET gene mutations) Papillary carcinoma is associated with RET/PTC rearrangements and BRAF mutations.
- Follicular carcinoma is associated with PAX8-PPAR-γ rearrangement and RAS mutation.
- TP53 mutation is found in anaplastic carcinomas.
Radiation exposure significantly increases the risk for thyroid malignancies, especially the papillary type. This has been noticed in the children that were exposed to radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. There is a latency if at least 5 years post-exposure, with maximum risk at 20 years. However, low dose radiation exposure from imaging studies has not been found to have the same carcinogenic effect. Some evidence showed populations with low dietary iodine have higher risk for developing the follicular and anaplastic carcinomas.

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