We don’t always know what causes thyroid cancer, but research is going on to find this out. We know that some things (called risk factors) increase the chance of developing thyroid cancer:
radiation
Being exposed to radiation can increase your risk of developing thyroid cancer. If you have radiotherapy as a child, especially to the neck area, this can increase your risk of developing thyroid cancer many years later. However, most young people who have radiotherapy never develop thyroid cancer.
rare conditions
Some rare diseases and conditions that run in families (genetic conditions) can increase the chances of developing thyroid cancer.
