Thyroid cancer is already the malignant tumor of which the current incidence is increased fastest. Thyroid cancer incidence among people in China continues to climb in recent years, especially among young females. Studies show that thyroid cancer incidence among East Asian people is increased at a speed obviously higher than among European and American people, for instance, thyroid cancer already ranks first in female malignant tumors in South Korea in respect of incidence; while thyroid cancer is also ranks among top three in female malignant tumors in respect of incidence in some regions of our country.

Early-stage thyroid nodule is easier to discover, along with the progress of the ultrasound technique and popularization of physical examination. Since these nodules may be benign or malignant, so how to accurately identify which thyroid nodules are benign and which are malignant is the key to the planning of the thyroid nodule therapy.

Currently, Fine-needle Puncture is the traditional gold criterion for the diagnosis of benign or malignant thyroid nodule, however which depends on doctor experience to a considerable degree. Even though the puncture specimens are collected sufficiently and interpreted by an experienced cytopathologist, approximate 10% of which is still difficult or impossible to confirm to be benign or malignant based on cell type. To avoid these false negative, the diagnosis of thyroid cancer or not can only be confirmed by surgery. Thus a part of patients with benign thyroid nodule in whom thyroid cancer is suspected will inevitably receive surgical therapy, causing unnecessary burden.