A Shanghai hospital has made a discovery that can save patients anxiety and unnecessary surgery.

Out of fear of possible cancerous development of thyroid nodules, there has been a rising number of surgeries to remove such nodules in domestic hospitals.

But most thyroid nodules won’t develop into thyroid cancer, local experts announced yesterday, citing clinical and genetic research. The discovery was published by Nature Communication.

Along with the development of medical technology, the detection of thyroid nodules has become a popular medical practice.

Dr Wang Weiqing, director of Ruijin Hospital’s endocrinology department, said: “Through genetic studies, we found thyroid cancer just developed from normal thyroid tissue. It didn’t follow a process from normal tissue to nodule and then cancer.”

People with benign nodules only need a check every year to follow their individual condition. About 90 percent of such people don’t need surgery, experts said.