Nguyen DN, et al. - An elevated thyroid cancer risk may exist despite normal body mass index in metabolically unhealthy women or women with central adiposity.

• In a population-based prospective cohort study (Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study), data were collected from 173,343 participants (age {greater than or equal to}40 years) enrolled from 2004 to 2013, to determine if the risk of thyroid cancer differs among metabolically healthy/unhealthy, normal-weight, or obese women.

• An elevated risk of thyroid cancer was found in metabolically unhealthy women, either normal-weight or obese (hazard ratios (HRs) 1.57 and 1.71, respectively), vs non-obese women without metabolic abnormalities.

• Significant association was absent in men.

• In non-obese women with high waist circumference (WC)({greater than or equal to}85 cm), a higher thyroid cancer risk was seen (HR 1.62) vs non-obese women with low WC.

• Thyroid cancer risk was higher in obese women with low HDL-cholesterol (<50 mg/dL; HR=1.75) vs non-obese women with high HDL-cholesterol.