Most Common Thyroid Malignancy in Saudi Arabia

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common thyroid malignancy in Saudi Arabia, accounting for 77-82% of all thyroid cancer cases. 1, 2

Epidemiological Pattern in Saudi Arabia

The distribution of thyroid cancer histological subtypes in Saudi Arabia follows this hierarchy:

Papillary carcinoma: 50-82% of all thyroid malignancies, with classical papillary thyroid cancer representing 77% and follicular variant PTC accounting for 13.3% 1, 3, 2, 4
Follicular carcinoma: 3.2-4.4% of cases 3, 2, 4
Anaplastic and medullary carcinoma: 6.7% combined 4
Lymphoma: 1.1-2% of thyroid malignancies 3, 5

Thyroid cancer represents a significantly higher proportion of malignancies in Saudi Arabia compared to Western populations:

Constitutes 9-12% of all malignancies at major Saudi centers, compared to only 2.9% in the USA 1
Represents the second most common cancer in Saudi women, accounting for 11% of newly diagnosed female cancers 1, 5
Female to male ratio ranges from 3.8:1 to 0.3:1 depending on the study population 1, 5, 2

Age distribution differs from Western patterns:

Median age at diagnosis is 36-40 years for females and 41-44 years for males, which is younger than typical Western populations 1, 3, 2
Highest incidence occurs in the 30-39 year age group 1

The incidence of thyroid cancer in Saudi Arabia has increased exponentially between 2000-2010:

2.3-fold increase in absolute case numbers from 2000 to 2017 5
Age-standardized incidence rate reached 4.4 per 100,000 population (6.8 for females, 2.0 for males) by 2008 1
The rate per 100,000 residents doubled from 1.6 (2000-2002) to 3.4 (2015-2017) in Jeddah 5
Three-fold greater increase in females compared to males over this period 1

Important caveats for Saudi practice:

The rising incidence likely reflects both increased detection through improved diagnostic methods (high-resolution ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration cytology) and potentially true increases in disease occurrence 1, 3
Significant geographical variation exists throughout the Kingdom, requiring region-specific awareness 1
Despite high incidence, disease-specific mortality remains low at 3.3%, with 53.3% of patients achieving excellent response to treatment 2
48% of patients present with localized disease, and approximately 60% require combined modality treatment (surgery, radioactive iodine, and hormonal therapy) 1