Thyroid Cancer Higher in Volcanic Areas

New research suggests that living near a volcano puts people at higher risk of getting a type of thyroid cancer.

It's not clear how volcanoes might be related to cancer, but researchers suspect that the toxic compounds they produce could play a role.

Researchers are also unsure of why thyroid cancer rates are rising around the world. It's possibly because of better detection, but the environment is a potential factor as well, they believe.

The study authors examined reports of newly diagnosed thyroid cancers on the island of Sicily from 2002 to 2004. They compared the cancer rates in residents from two areas: those who live in the volcanic area around Mount Etna and those in the rest of Sicily.

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