Are relatives of patients with thyroid cancer at higher risk for the development of thyroid cancer?

Some particular circumstances exist under which relatives of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer may be at higher risk for the development of thyroid cancer. Up to 20-30% of cases of medullary thyroid cancer may be manifestations of inherited diseases known to be caused by specific genetic abnormalities. Other cases represent new instances of sporadic medullary thyroid cancer, a condition that is not passed on from generation to generation. Medullary thyroid cancer may be the sole manifestation of an inherited disease called familial medullary thyroid cancer. It may also be identified as one of a group of endocrine tumors that develop as part of a type of inherited disease called multiple endocrine neoplasia.

In about 3-7% of all cases of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, clusters of cases have been observed within certain families. In such families only a few members present with differentiated thyroid cancer, but the odds of this occurring are too low to consider it to be a coincidence. It appears that these families have an inherited predisposition to develop differentiated thyroid cancer. At present it is unclear whether there are specific genetic abnormalities that account for these patterns of inheritance.

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