Ex-Sfk wrote:
Is Thyroid Cancer in Children Rare in Japan?


Tweets that get retweeted by people in Japan that I follow have been abuzz with the talk given by Dr. Helen Caldicott, whom Mr. Kouta Kinoshita has invited to speak in several cities in Japan. Many seem to be freaking out, particularly as the news of another case of thyroid cancer found among Fukushima children broke at the same time and Dr. Caldicott states it is extremely rare for children to have thyroid cancer.

Is it that rare?

People on Twitter are saying "2 cases [actually one confirmed case in September and one suspected case this time] of thyroid cancer among 114,000 children tested so far in Fukushima, that's extraordinarily high, not seen anywhere else in the world! It's usually one in several millions for children!"

So I decided to look for the data on thyroid cancer cases by sex and age, and found it at Japan's National Cancer Center's website for cancer statistics.

According to Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, National Cancer Center, Japan (from their excel sheet cancer_incidence(1975-2007).xls):

Number of cases in 2007

male:
age 0 - 14: zero
age 15 - 19: 14

female:
age 0 - 9: zero
age 10 -14: 6
age 15 - 19: 41


Disease rates in 2007 (cases per 100,000)

male:
age 0 - 14: zero
age 15 - 19: 0.4

female:
age 0 - 9: zero
age 10 - 14: 0.2
age 15 - 19: 1.3


The sex and the age of the child with the confirmed case have not been disclosed, but the second suspected case is a girl in her late teens, between 16 and 18 years old, as disclosed by the Fukushima Medical University committee.

There are total 365,590 children in Fukushima aged 0 to 19 as of October 2011, according to the Fukushima prefectural government data. (Excel sheet)
[link to ex-skf.blogspot.jp]