A National Overview of Thyroid Cancer Trends in Iraq: A Descriptive Epidemiological Analysis

Background: Thyroid cancer has emerged as one of the fastest-rising malignancies globally. Its incidence, aggressiveness, and prognosis vary between gender.Objectives: To assess thyroid cancer incidence trends in Iraq from 2009 to 2023 and examine patterns related to gender, age, cancer ranking, and histopathology.Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted using data from the Iraqi Cancer Registry (2009-2023), focusing on annual incidence, gender distribution, age-specific rates, and histological subtypes. Crude incidence rates (CIRs) were calculated as the number of new thyroid cancer cases per 100,000 population per year for each gender and year.Results: Over the 15 years, thyroid cancer in Iraq increased significantly, approximately tenfold (288 in 2009 and 2823 in 2023), with female incidence rising 11-fold (1.3 per 100,000 in 2009-9 per 100,000 in 2023) and male incidence 6.7-fold (0.5 per 100,000 in 2009-3 per 100,000 in 2023). The female-to-male ratio increased from 2.5:1 in 2009 to 4:1 in 2023. Thyroid cancer ranked rose from 17th to 4th. The age category of 30 and 34 was the highest, while the highest rates of new cases were among individuals 70 years and older. The papillary subtype forms 82% of the cases.Conclusion: Thyroid cancer is increasing in Iraq, especially among women. This is consistent with the global pattern and may be because of overdiagnosis or environmental factors. The results show that we need to improve screening, better diagnostics, and cancer registry systems so that we can find cancer earlier to provide patients with better care.