Second malignancies in women diagnosed with thyroid cancer are of concern given the
young average age at diagnosis and excellent survival. Data from the California Cancer
Registry were used to evaluate the risk of second primary cancers among a retrospective
population-based cohort of 10,932 women diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer between
1988 and 1999. Follow-up was calculated from 2 months until the diagnosis of a second
primary cancer, death, loss to follow-up, or December 31, 1999, whichever occurred first …

We read with great interest the article by Canchola et al.(1) concerning the occurrence of
second primary cancers after diagnosis of thyroid cancer in women with papillary thyroid
cancer. The authors presented follow-up data on 10,932 female thyroid cancer patients.
Among them, 279 (2.6 percent) developed a second primary cancer during 50,938 person-
years of follow-up (mean= 4.7 years)(1). The results of this study showed an increased risk
of in situ breast cancer, kidney cancer, and melanoma. The authors recommended …