10 new cases of thyroid cancer

 December 28, 2016

10 more thyroid cancer cases diagnosed in Fukushima

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161228/p2a/00m/0na/008000c

FUKUSHIMA -- Ten more people were diagnosed with thyroid cancer as of late September this year in the second round of a health survey of Fukushima Prefecture residents, which began in April 2014, a committee overseeing the survey disclosed on Dec. 27.

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The number of people confirmed to have cancer during the second round of the survey stands at 44, while the overall figure including cases detected in the first round stands at 145.

The first round of checks -- covering people aged 18 or under who were living in the prefecture at the time of the outbreak of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant -- began in 2011. The second round covers about 380,000 people, including children who were born in the year following the outbreak of the disaster. The survey's third round began in May this year.

Some have pointed to the danger of "excessive diagnoses" during health checks in which doctors find cases of cancer that do not require surgery, which could place a physical and mental burden on patients. There have accordingly been calls for the Fukushima Prefectural Government to scale down the scope of its health survey.

During a meeting of the oversight committee in Fukushima on Dec. 27, Hokuto Hoshi, deputy head of the Fukushima Medical Association, requested that the prefectural government set up a third-party organization to independently gather scientific knowledge on thyroid cancer. "Scientific discussion should be conducted independently," he said.