Screening check
Should I be screened for thyroid cancer?
Thyroid cancer is found far more often than it used to be, yet deaths have barely changed. The US Preventive Services Task Force looked at whether adults without symptoms should be checked with a neck exam or ultrasound. Check what it says for you.
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What you will see
What the USPSTF says about thyroid cancer screening for you.
Educational only, not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about a neck lump or throat symptoms.
Source
US Preventive Services Task Force, May 2017 recommendation on screening for thyroid cancer.
Validated in
Adults without symptoms.
Limits
It is not a test and cannot tell whether you have thyroid cancer. It does not cover people with neck or throat symptoms, past radiation exposure, a close relative with thyroid cancer or a linked inherited condition.
What the USPSTF recommends
| Who | Recommendation | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Adults without symptoms | Do not screen for thyroid cancer | D |
The USPSTF concluded with moderate certainty that screening adults without symptoms, by feeling the neck or by ultrasound, does more harm than good (USPSTF 2017). The advice does not apply to people with hoarseness, pain, trouble swallowing or other throat symptoms, or with lumps, swelling or an uneven neck. It also does not apply to people at higher risk because of radiation exposure, an inherited syndrome linked to thyroid cancer, or a first-degree relative with thyroid cancer (USPSTF 2017).
What raises the risk
Factors that substantially increase the risk include radiation to the head and neck in childhood, exposure to radioactive fallout, a parent, sibling or child with thyroid cancer, and certain genetic conditions such as familial medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A or 2B (USPSTF 2017).
Why screening does not help
US thyroid cancer rates rose from 4.9 to 15.3 cases per 100,000 people between 1975 and 2013, while deaths rose only slightly (USPSTF 2017). Most thyroid cancers have a good outlook: five-year survival is 98.1% overall, 99.9% for cancer that has not spread (USPSTF 2017). The USPSTF judged that the benefit of screening is small at most, because the cancer is rare, people with the most common tumor types do about as well whether treated or only monitored, and death rates did not change after a population-wide screening program was introduced elsewhere (USPSTF 2017).
Screening is likely to find cancers that would never have caused harm, which leads to treatment. After total thyroid removal, about 2 to 6 in 100 people have lasting low calcium from damage to the parathyroid glands, and about 1 to 2 in 100 operations cause lasting voice nerve damage. Radioactive iodine treatment can cause dry mouth and other salivary gland problems (USPSTF 2017).
Common questions
Should I ask for a thyroid ultrasound just to be safe?
Not if you have no symptoms and no higher-risk history. The evidence was too limited to say how accurate neck exams or ultrasound are as screening tests, and the harms of finding and treating harmless cancers outweigh the possible benefit (USPSTF 2017).
How is thyroid cancer treated?
Mainly with surgery to remove all or part of the thyroid, sometimes with nearby lymph nodes. Radioactive iodine may be added depending on the type and stage (USPSTF 2017).
Also see the ovarian cancer screening check, the carotid artery screening check, the pancreatic cancer screening check and all screening tests by age.
Sources
- US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Thyroid Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2017;317(18):1882-1887. www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/thyroid-cancer-screening
Written and maintained by the uncovermyrisk.com editorial team. We do not have a medical reviewer; every claim links to its primary source above. Last reviewed: 2026-10-30. Spotted an error? See About.