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Iodine and Iodized Salt and Cancer Risk

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OncoLink
Last Modified: August 14, 2012

Question

Is it better to have a diet with or without iodine products to prevent thyroid cancer? Does using iodized salt increase your risk of cancer?

Answer

Kolin Hoff, MD, Endocrinologist at Penn Medicine responds,

Iodine deficiency increases the risk of goiter but does not increase the risk of cancer. Nodular goiters have about a 5% or less risk of cancer. Using iodized salt does not increase your risk of cancer.

This question and answer was part of OncoLink's Brown Bag Web Chat Series. View the entire transcript of Focus on Thyroid Cancer.