New Delhi,  A recent study discovered that population-based genomic screening can help in the early diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in patients with RET gene variations. MTC accounts for 2 per cent to 5 per cent of all thyroid cancer cases and 13 per cent of all thyroid cancer-related fatalities. Variations in the RET gene are responsible for about one-fourth of MTC cases, which are inherited. The Geisinger study evaluated 75 patients who were found to have RET gene variants as part of the MyCode Community Health Initiative. None of the patients had any symptoms of thyroid cancer prior to receiving these genetic results. Twenty of these patients chose to have a thyroidectomy after learning of the RET variant; 13 also had lymph nodes removed. Of the 20 patients who chose to have surgery, cancer was detected in 12. Two additional patients had C-cell hyperplasia, a known precursor to MTC. The results were published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.